Box Score
 
KINGS POINT, N.Y. (April 3, 2021) – The U.S. Merchant Marine Academy men's lacrosse team was defeated on the road at rival SUNY Maritime College, 14-10, in the 2021 season-opener on Saturday at the Privateers' Reinhart Field. Maritime used a strong fourth quarter – outscoring the Mariners, 6-1, in the stanza – to claim the victory in the annual Hagedorn Cup game.
 
Senior Liam Connors (Bellmore, N.Y.) led Merchant Marine with four points on a goal and three assists, while freshman James Dotsikas (Jacksonville, Fla.) tallied a hat trick in his first-career game. Another Plebe also registered three points, as Sam Winkler (Moorestown, N.J.) scored twice and dished out one assist. Junior Jack Browne (Summit, N.J.) and freshman Maverick Geller (Hood River, Ore.) also found the back of the net, while juniors Ben Mathews (Chesapeake, Va.) and Matt Groom (Bethpage, N.Y.) found the scoresheet with one assist apiece.
 
Defensively, junior Jason Aiello (Northport, N.Y.) recorded a game-high three caused turnovers and gobbled up five groundballs, while Geller and freshman Dom Mirack (Stevensville, Md.) had two CTs each. In the faceoff-X, senior Kyle Buser (Babylon, N.Y.) faced his brother today, and won 11-of-28, leading all players in the game with six groundballs. In net, freshman Shannon Byrne II (Severna Park, Md.) had 12 saves in the losing effort.
 
The Privateers started the scoring on the day before the Mariners tallied four-straight to take a 4-1 lead at 3:58. The hosts answered back with one very quickly which closed out the scoring in the opening frame.
 
The two teams alternated scoring nearly the entire second quarter with Maritime starting it off until USMMA broke the trend with their second-straight with just four seconds left in the stanza to take a 9-6 lead into the halftime break.
 
Only two goals were scored in the third quarter, both by the Privateers, as they started their comeback, and Merchant Marine held on to a 9-8 advantage going into the fourth. However, the final quarter was dominated by Maritime, as the hosts outscored the Mariners, 6-1, to claim the Hagedorn Cup for the second-straight meeting.
 
Privateer senior Mike Leake led all players on the day with six points on four goals and two assists, with four of them coming in the fourth quarter (3G, 1A). Classmate Bryan Keegan added three goals and one assist, and one other Maritime player had a multi-point outing, sophomore Patrick Schnell with a goal and a helper. Senior Kevin Buser, Kyle's younger brother, won 17-of-28 faceoffs and was one of three Privateers with a team-best five groundball.  Senior Kyle Bockelman made 12 saves for the win between the pipes.
 
Up next, the Mariners will travel up to Purchase, N.Y., to take on the newest Skyline Conference opponent, Manhattanville College, this coming Friday evening, April 9, beginning at 7 p.m. Live stats and a live video feed will be available with links on the USMMA Men's Lacrosse Schedule Page.
 
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