BRONX, N.Y. (April 30, 2024) – The U.S. Merchant Marine Academy men's lacrosse team was unable to shake a slow start and fell in the Skyline Conference Semifinals to Farmingdale State on Tuesday by an 11-7 score. The loss eliminates the second-seeded Mariners from postseason play, while the win advances the #3-seed Rams advance to the Skyline Conference Championship Game on Friday evening at Reinhart Field on the campus of SUNY Maritime.
 
Game Links

• Box Score

Sophomore Owen Barcus (Annapolis, Md.) and freshman Owen Behr (Vestavia Hills, Ala.) led the Mariners with three goals apiece. The other marker for the Mariners came in the fourth quarter from Sam Winkler (Moorestown, N.J.), who also recorded an assist on a goal by Barcus in the final frame. Sophomores William Badeer (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Michael Hofstetter (Deer Park, N.Y.), and Jack DeTommaso (Massapequa, N.Y.) recorded assists for USMMA in the losing effort.
 
Leading the defensive unit on the evening was senior Mark Bredeck (Severna Park, Md.), who had four caused turnovers and three ground balls. Classmate Dom Mirack (Stevensville, Md.) collected a team-best seven ground balls to go along with three caused turnovers, while Hofstetter caused three Farmingdale turnovers and registered three ground balls. Freshman netminder Julian Garcia (Lakeway, Texas) recorded 13 saves for the Mariners in the defeat.
 
Kyle Kolano led Farmingdale with three goals as Adam Giovinco and Rob Varello added a pair of goals each for the Rams. Michael Cassano recorded three points with a goal and two assists and Antonio Kaminskey went 15-for-23 on face-offs in the contest. Rams goalie Dan Erler had 14 saves in the game, including eight in the first quarter of the contest.
 
After neither side could find the back of the net in the first five minutes of play, Farmingdale scored consecutive goals with Varello's first tally of the game giving the Rams a 2-0 lead with six minutes remaining in the quarter. USMMA got on the board to end the quarter with Barcus netting his first tally in the final seconds of play. The momentum swung back to the host Rams in the second quarter as Farmingdale scored four goals in a row before Behr's first tally with just over ninety seconds to go in the half.
 
Farmingdale's lead swelled in the third quarter as the Rams held KP off the scoreboard while netting four markers of their own to take a 10-2 advantage going into the final quarter. The Mariners would score five times in the final quarter, but the offensive output was not enough to overcome the deficit. 
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