Final Results
 
THROGGS NECK, N.Y. – For the first time under the Peter Vecchio era of Maritime Swimming, the Privateer Men's Swimming and Diving team knocked off the William Paterson Pioneers on Thursday evening by the score of 126-113.
 
The women's team fell in their season opener to William Paterson by the score of 115-78.
 
The win for the men's team was the first in Vecchio's 15-year tenure as Maritime Head Coach, and first in at least 20 seasons that the Privateers and Pioneers have met in the pool.
 
Within the last decade, Maritime had a pair of matchups with William Paterson that the Privateers fell by 10 points or less, including a seven-point loss in the 2010-11 season.
 
It was an overall team victory for the Privateers as Maritime took first place in five of the opening five men's events.
 
The men's quartet of freshmen Preston Truong (Austin, Texas/Round Rock), John Accetta (Seaford, N.Y./Kellenberg), Kevin Wu (Flushing, N.Y./Francis Lewis), and sophomore Doug Russell (Oakdale, N.Y./Connetquot) took first, followed by the quartet of seniors Matt Cannon (Sparta, N.J./Sparta), Brendan Erskine (Maspeth, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy), sophomore John Dean (Milton, Del./Cape Henlopen) and freshman Nathanael Marino (Orwigsburg, Pa./Blue Mountain), recorded a top-two finish and 15 points to start off the night in the 200-Yard Medley Relay.
 
Junior Robert Lewis (Belchertown, Mass./Belchertown) cruised to an 11-second win in the 1,000-Yard Freestyle to earn nine points for the team. Sophomore Luke Doherty (Chadds Ford, Pa./Unionville) and Truong came in third and fourth, respectively.
 
Truong picked up his first collegiate individual victory with a 1:48.93 in the 200-Yard Freestyle to seal nine more points for the Privateers. Wu then registered his first victory in the 50-Yard Freestyle at a time of 22.50. The fifth straight win was set when Erskine cruised to a seven-second win in the 200-Yard Individual Medley with a time of 2:15.67. Cannon also recorded a third place finish in the 200-IM with a 2:17.04.
 
Junior Ryan Wood (Sparta, N.J./Blair Academy)s and freshman Kurt Schieferstein (Lattingtown, N.Y./Chaminade) took to the 1-Meter diving board in the next event and combined for five points.
 
The biggest loss of the night came by the closest margin as Truong was edged out by one one-hundredth of a second in the 100-Yard Butterfly, as he scored a 56.29 in the event. Lewis was three seconds off the pace to clinch a third place finish.
 
Russell put up a valiant effort in the 100-Yard Freestyle as he was just seven-tenths off the pace, but finished third in the event. Sophomore Andrew Katz (Elwood, N.Y./John Glenn) and senior Peter Skerys (Sag Harbor, N.Y./Pierson) came to the finish in fourth and fifth.
 
Several events later in the 500-Freestyle, Lewis put on yet another impressive performance as he fell behind by nearly half the length of the pool in the closing laps but surged and put the pressure on William Paterson heading into the final turn. Lewis finished just 1.02 seconds behind his target, coming across with a 5:31.13.
 
The 3-Meter dive saw Wood take third with a score of 121.20, to help the team to another three points.
 
The next event was another example of how the Privateers pulled off the win. Despite not getting first place in the 100-Breaststroke, Maritime took second, third and fourth place with Erskine, Accetta, and junior Craig Lyon (Ronkonkoma, N.Y./Sachem North) leading he team to another nine points.
 
The final event for the men produced one of the loudest cheers in Riesenberg Aquatic Center history as the 200-Freestlye Relay saw Maritime edge their guest by just .19 of a second. Russell, Marino, Wu and junior Jonathan Murray (Long Beach, N.Y./Kellenberg) sealed the win with an 11-point effort with a time of 1:31.20.
 
On the women's side, freshman Ekaterina Aaron (Clarence, N.Y./Clarence) impressed in her collegiate debut with wins in each of her three events on the night, which included a 12:25.83 finish in the 1,000-Yard Freestyle.
 
Prior to the 1,000-Free, Maritime's quartet of senior Emma Crandall (Penfield, N.Y./Penfield), junior Danielle Leahy (Cocoa Beach, Fla./Cocoa Beach), sophomore Sarah Soulagnet (Lindenhurst, N.Y./Homeschooled), and freshman Emily Zink (Brockport, N.Y./Brockport) recorded a time of 2:08.39 for a second-place finish in the first event of the season.
 
Freshmen Erica Davis (Oakdale, N.Y./Connetquot) and Catherine Teige () picked up points in the 200-Freestyle, while Leahy and Davis added three more points for the team in the 50-Freestyle.
 
Zink and Soulagnet recorded strong times in the 200-Individual Medley, with Zink touching the pad second (2:34.71) and Soulagnet in third (2:41.80). Up next was sophomore Alexandra Schnabel (Lindenhurst, N.Y./St. Anthony's) in the 1-Meter Diving event, where she came in second place.
 
After the dives, Aaron picked up where she left off as she sealed another victory, this time in the 100-Butterfly with a time of 1:06.82. Aaron recorded her third and final win of the night in the 500-Freestyle with a time of 5:59.63, while sophomore Abigail Granit (Forked River, N.J./Lacey Township) followed her with a second-place finish.
 
Crandall picked up nine points for the Privateers as she scored a time of 1:27.63 in the 100-Breastroke during the final individual event of the night.
 
The final women's event of the night saw Leahy, Teige, Zink and freshmen Nicole Ling (Brooklyn, N.Y./Fort Hamilton) add 11 more points to the Privateer score as the quartet finished with a time of 2:07.99.
 
Maritime will return to action next week on November 5, as the team opens Skyline competition with a meet against the Mount St. Vincent Dolphins, the opening race is slated to begin at 6:00 p.m. from the Riesenberg Aquatic Center.