KINGS POINT, N.Y. (March 9, 2024) – Despite scoring six of the game's first seven goals and holding a 7-1 lead after one period of play, the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy men's lacrosse team found themselves on the wrong end of a 13-12 loss to Drew University on Saturday at Brooks Stadium. The Mariners now hold a 1-2 record on the season, while the visiting Rangers upped their win total to possess a 5-1 mark for the year.
 
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• Box Score 

USMMA opened play with the game's first goal as senior midfielder Sam Winkler (Moorestown, N.J.) shot home his fifth tally of the year past Drew goalie Sawyer Kennedy with just over two minutes gone from the first quarter. Following a face-off win from sophomore Jason Rupli (Washington, D.C.), Winkler collected his second goal in just under a minute of playing time to give the Mariners a 2-0 lead. The hosts went up by a three-goal margin as Jack DeTommaso (Massapequa, N.Y.) scored on the extra-man advantage with junior attackman Jack Collins (Memphis, Tenn.) nabbing the assist for USMMA. Collins upped the Mariners' lead to four after senior defenseman Dom Mirack (Stevensville, Md.) collected a forced turnover and ground ball before feeding the marksman for the goal to force Drew into a timeout.
 
Out of the stoppage in play, freshman midfielder Owen Markel (The Woodlands, Texas) took advantage of a Rangers giveaway caused by senior Josh Plumb (Portsmouth, R.I.) to give the Mariners a 5-0 lead with seven-and-a-half minutes remaining in the frame. Almost five minutes would go by before USMMA recorded a sixth consecutive marker with Collins setting up senior midfielder Erich Diehl (Long Valley, N.J.) with less than three minutes remaining in the frame. DeTommaso would end the quarter trading goals with Drew's Alex Higgins as the Mariners ended the first period with a 7-1 advantage. Sophomore William Badeer (Pittsburgh, Pa.) opened the second quarter with a goal of his own to give USMMA an 8-1 lead and the Mariners won the ensuing face-off.
 
However, Winkler's attempt at a hat trick was denied by Kennedy and the Rangers would then hold the Mariners without a shot for the game's next eight minutes. In that span, Drew collected four goals of their own with two coming from Riley Zeer as the Rangers clawed their way back to an 8-5 deficit. Zeer also came up with the game-tying goal with two minutes to go in the half as the Rangers scored seven consecutive times in the rally. Sophomore attacker Owen Barcus (Annapolis, Md.) ended the first half with a goal in the waning seconds to give the Mariners a 9-8 lead going into the break.
 
Neither side was able to collect a goal in the third quarter until Drew's Joey Larmore tied the score at 9-all with nine minutes to play in the frame. That marker was one of just three in the quarter with Badeer netting the Mariners' lone goal of the frame and Matt Giordano tying the score with five minutes left in the period. In the fourth quarter, the visitors took their first lead of the game with two minutes elapsed from the clock as Tommy Larmore connected off a feed from his brother to give the Rangers an 11-10 lead. The goal was the first of two straight for Drew, as the Rangers took a 12-10 lead on a man-up marker less than a minute later.  The Mariners cut the deficit with nine minutes remaining following Barcus's second goal of the game and then tied the score with two minutes to go as Badeer scored on a feed from Collins. The Rangers would win the following face-off and Zeer scored the go-ahead goal with just over a minute to play in the contest. USMMA had two chances to tie the game in the last minute, but Badeer's shots were both wide right as time expired on the game.
 
Collins had a team-best five points with a goal and four assists while also leading the team with four ground ball pickups. Badeer added three goals with Barcus, DeTommaso, and Winkler each netting two goals in the loss. Sophomore defender Christian Meyers (Miller Place, N.Y.) led the Mariners on defense with three caused turnovers and Rupli went 5-for-11 on face-offs with a ground ball. Plumb collected four ground balls with senior Maverick Geller (Hood River, Ore.) adding three ground balls and two caused turnovers as senior goalie Coby Schwartz (Pittsburgh, Pa.) stopped nine shots in net for the Mariners.
 
Zeer led all scorers with four goals for Drew in the victory while Joey Larmore had five points including four assists. Tommy Larmore added two goals for the Rangers and Giordano picked up two goals and two ground balls. GJ Nazziola went 20-for-29 on face-offs for Drew with 11 ground ball pickups and Kennedy earned the win with 12 saves in the cage for the visitors.
 
The Mariners now hit the road for the first time in the 2024 season with a Spring Break trip that will see USMMA playing two games in Georgetown, Texas. The first contest pits USMMA against Southwestern University at 2 p.m. on Friday, March 15. The Mariners will then face the Warriors of Hendrix College on Saturday, March 16 at 11 a.m. Live stats and a live video feed of the game will be available with links on the USMMA Men's Lacrosse Schedule Page!
 
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