DANBURY, Conn. (March 1, 2025) – The U.S. Merchant Marine men's lacrosse team used a strong fourth quarter finish to out-muscle Western Connecticut State, 17-15, on Saturday afternoon. Kings Point moves to 2-0 on the season, while handing the Wolves their first loss of the year, dropping them to 3-1.
 
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• Box Score 

Three Mariners put up four-goal performances on the afternoon. Senior Jack Collins (Memphis, Tenn.) led the Blue and Grey on offense with seven points on four goals and three assists. Sophomore Owen Behr (Vestavia Hills, Ala.) registered six points with four goals and two helpers, and freshman Landon Locke (Midlothian, Va.) also had a four-goal day. Senior Michael Emerick (Damascus, Md.) and sophomore William Badeer (Pittsburgh, Pa.) also found the back of the cage twice in the contest. 
 
Emerick also led the Mariners with four groundballs. In the net for the Mariners, sophomore goalie Julian Garcia (Lakeway, Texas) picked up the victory, making 18 saves. 
 
Liam Ford buried a game-high five goals and seven total points for WestConn, with Tristan McMahon adding four goals for the Wolves. Benjamin Hawthorne distributed a game-best three assists while Jonathan Russack-Baker added a goal, went 25-for-33 on face-offs, and had a game-best 14 ground ball pickups. WestConn netminder Jake Kelly made four stops and took the loss.
 
WestConn recorded three of the first four goals of the quarter, jumping out to a 3-1 lead. USMMA would rally with a 3-0 run, with Collins putting them ahead 4-3 at the 2:33 mark before the Wolves tied it at four with 1:19 remaining, keeping both squads even after the first quarter.
 
After surrendering the first two goals of the second quarter, the Mariners posted six of the final seven goals, recording a pair of 3-0 runs, erasing a 6-4 deficit on an unassisted goal from Behr at 9:32 and Collins's man-up tally with 44 seconds left making it 10-7 going into the halftime break.
 
Emerick opened the third quarter scoring at 11:02 to stretch KP's lead to four, 11-7, before WestConn connected on back-to-back goals 18 seconds apart to cut the deficit down to 11-9. Collin's unassisted goal at 1:04 stretched the advantage back to four, 13-9, before the Wolves found the back of the net with 12 seconds left to make it 13-10 going into the final stanza.
 
WestConn got off to a strong start in the fourth quarter, connecting on four of the first five goals of the period to go back in front 14-13 at 9:36 and 15-14 with 7:41 remaining. The Mariners took over from there with three consecutive goals. Locke tied it up at 15 after a Wolves turnover, then Behr buried the go-ahead tally after a successful clear to make it 16-15, and Collins added an insurance goal, giving Kings Point a 17-15 victory.
 
Up next, Merchant Marine returns to Kings Point for their home opener on Saturday, March 8, against Drew. Opening face-off is scheduled for noon at Brooks Stadium.
 
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