Box Score

        CENTEREACH, N.Y. (Nov. 5, 2011) – For the second-straight season, the Maritime men's soccer team has won the Skyline Conference Championship! The Privateers defeated the #1-seed St. Joseph's Golden Eagles, 2-1, in dramatic fashion Saturday afternoon at the Centereach Town Field in Long Island. Maritime improves to 13-5-3 overall, while the Golden Eagles end the season with a 13-8 record.
 
        Junior Michael Vanadia (Commack, N.Y./Commack) (Commack, N.Y./Commack) was named the Championship MVP with a four-save performance leading the Privateers to the victory, his sixth win of the season. Junior Ryan Nugent (Carmel, N.Y./Kennedy Catholic) (Carmel, N.Y./Kennedy Catholic) and senior David Kittinger (Fort Myers, Fla./South Fort Myers (Fla.)) (Fort Myers, Fla./South Fort Myers) scored the two goals for Maritime.
 
        The game as scoreless throughout the entire first half, as the Privateers outshot St. Joseph's, 8-4. Golden Eagles' junior keeper Chris Muhs turned away all three of Maritime's shots on goal, while Vanadia stopped St. Joe's two shots on goal. The teams went into the halftime break scoreless.

        The second half saw the Privateers get on the board first with a goal by Nugent in the 53rd minute. The junior forward found the back of the net off a throw in down low by senior Jason Tursi (Farmingdale, N.Y./Plainedge) (Farmingdale, N.Y./Plainedge). With time winding down, Maritime struck again, this time in the 87th minute, when Kittinger dove to head in a corner kick by Tursi to give the Privateers a 2-0 lead. The elation was short-lived, however, as St. Joseph's senior Julian Barreiros scored just 1:06 later in the 88th minute to cut the lead to 2-1. However, one final shot by the Golden Eagles would sail wide and the Privateers held on for the narrow victory.
 
        With the win, the Privateers have earned an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament and will now await the seedings for the national playoffs. The full 61-team bracket will be revealed on Monday, Nov. 7 at 1 p.m. on a selection show to be broadcasted on NCAA.com.