KINGS POINT, N.Y. (Feb. 24, 2024) – The U.S. Merchant Marine Academy men's lacrosse team opened their season in grand fashion on Saturday with a 12-8 victory over Moravian at Brooks Stadium. The Mariners' win over the Greyhounds marks the third-consecutive year that USMMA has opened their season with a triumph; Moravian falls to 0-2 on the season with the defeat in Kings Point.
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The Mariners battled back from an early deficit, as the visitors notched four consecutive goals to open the contest in the game's first twenty minutes of action. First-year midfielder
Owen Behr (Vestavia Hills, Ala.) put USMMA on the board from an assist from senior middie
Sam Winkler (Moorestown, N.J.) to cut the Greyhounds' lead to 4-1 with less than nine minutes to play in the first half. The marker would be the first in a ten-goal spurt from the Mariners that was unanswered thanks to key contributions on the defensive side of the ball.
Following a Moravian turnover with just under six minutes remaining in the opening half, sophomore
William Badeer (Pittsburgh, Pa.) sniped a goal past keeper Thomas Lee to bring the Mariners within two goals before freshman
Owen Markel (The Woodlands, Texas) scored his first collegiate goal less than a minute later after another Greyhounds giveaway. Winkler tied the score on a feed from
Kyle Hennelly (Dacula, Ga.) moments later, and Badeer's second goal of the game off a pass by Behr gave the Mariners a 5-4 lead going into the halftime break.
The opening minute of the third quarter saw much of the same from the Mariners as Behr struck for his second goal immediately following a face-off win and ground ball pickup by senior defenseman
Dom Mirack (Stevensville, Md.). Moravian held the ball for the next several minutes but was unable to convert on an extra-man advantage thanks to two saves from goalie
Tucker Swinerton (Weston, Fla.) and a turnover caused by senior defenseman
Mark Bredeck (Severna Park, Md.).
The Mariners would then strike for four more goals with markers coming from senior
Erich Diehl (Long Valley, N.J.) and freshman
Axel Flotten (Virginia Beach, Va.) to go along with repeat tallies from Winkler and Hennelly. The Greyhounds went on their own run of three goals in a row to cut the Mariners' edge to a 10-7 mark with less than four minutes to play in the third quarter before Winkler answered once again off a feed from Behr to quell the run from the visitors.
Badeer sealed his hat trick to end the third quarter of play on the extra-man advantage, with an assist from sophomore
Jack DeTommaso (Massapequa, N.Y.). In the final quarter, Moravian scored just one goal thanks to four saves from Swinerton and a pressing defense that kept the Greyhounds at bay to the final whistle.
Winkler and Badeer led the Mariners with three goals while Behr's five-point day (two goals, three assists) was the top point total among all players on the field. Winkler added an assist to end his afternoon with four points total. Mirack had a team-best five ground ball pickups and three caused turnovers with Bredeck (4 GB, 1 CT) and DeTommaso (3 GB, 1 CT) contributing to the strong defensive effort.
USMMA went 14-of-24 on face-offs with sophomore midfielder
Adam Johnson (Canton, Ohio) posting a 7-for-12 day in the circle. Fellow second-year midfielder
Jason Rupli (Washington, D.C.) contributed six face-off wins in eleven tries for the Mariners as well. Swinerton made 16 saves in the cage to help anchor a defense that was nearly perfect (16-for-17) on clear attempts in the victory.
Aaron Judge had three goals for Moravian in the loss while Nick Coffaro and Trevor Dzama added two goals. Lee posted 15 saves for the Greyhounds on the afternoon.
USMMA continues a three-game homestand on Saturday, March 2, with a 12 p.m. contest at Brooks Stadium against Western Connecticut State. Live links for the game can be found on
the USMMA Men's Lacrosse Schedule Page.
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