Men's Lacrosse falls to Maine Maritime 22-10 in conference opener

Castine, ME- Freshman John Hankel (Garrison, NY) scored 5 goals but MCLA fell to Maine Maritime Academy 22-10 in men's lacrosse action this afternoon. It was the program's inaugural North Atlantic Conference (NAC) game.

With the win, the Mariners improve 2-3 overall and move to 1-0 in the conference. The Trailblazers drop to 0-4 overall and 0-1 in league play.

The Mariners got out to a fast start in this one and would never trail. Down 4-0, Hankel would score his first of the day and put the Trailblazers on the board with 4:06 left in the first. Maine Maritime would answer in the final minute of the quarter and just six seconds into the second, increasing the MMA lead to 6-1 and it would eventually stretch to 12-1 with just over three minutes remaining in the half.

Hankel would score twice and freshman Nathan Haley (North Adams, MA) once to close out the half making it 12-4 at the break.

Maritime's Sam Nichol would open the second half scoring with his fourth goal on the day and teammate Jacob Belanger would add another to increase the lead to ten at 14-4 with just under nine minutes to play in the third quarter. MCLA would again end a quarter on the three-goal run as Hankel, senior Tom Irwin (Vineyard Haven, MA) and Haley would each find the back of the net to make it 14-7 heading on to the final stanza.

However, the Mariners opened the fourth quarter on a three-goal run of their own increasing the margin to 17-7 with just under 13 minutes to play. Hankel and Haley would again score for MCLA as well as junior Matthew Wallace (Dalton, MA). But each goal was answered, and Maritime would add two late to make the final score 22-10.

For Maine Maritime Jayden Wilson and Sam Nicol each scored five times with Wilson adding five assists. Mariner keeper Ethan Snowman improved his record to 1-1 making 9 saves on 19 shots.

Fellow freshmen John Hankel (5 goals) and Nathan Haley (3 goals) would lead the Trailblazers in scoring. MCLA goalkeeper Brady Larkin made 22 saves.

Maine Maritime held the advantage in shots (44-19), groundballs (54-37), face offs (22-12) and turnovers (44-22).

Both teams will be off for nearly a week and return to play next Friday. Maine Maritime travels to conference foe SUNY Delhi while MCLA will return home to host nonconference opponent Mount Saint Vincent for a 4pm start at Shewcraft Field.