UTICA, N.Y. – The Maritime Privateers men's lacrosse team held off a late fourth quarter surge by the SUNY Polytechnic Wildcats on Friday evening by the score of 10-9 in non-conference action.
 
The Privateers held a 10-5 lead heading into the final quarter, but the Wildcats netted four unanswered to pull back within one. Late in the period, Maritime failed on a clear attempt to give the ball back to SUNY Polytechnic, but Privateer freshman netminder Brendan McNally (Long Beach, N.Y./Long Beach) made a last-second save to seal the win for Maritime.
 
Freshman Ian Danahy (West Nyack, N.Y./Clarkstown South) led the squad with five goals and a pair of assists for seven points, and also chipped in with three ground balls. Senior Paul Grubb (Merrick, N.Y./Calhoun) and freshman Nick Pellegrino (Melville, N.Y./Half Hollow Hills East) added two goals apiece, while senior Daniel Ahern (Kings Park, N.Y./St. Dominic) registered a goal and assist in the win.
 
Defensively, McNally made 11 saves, while eight different players recorded caused turnovers. Junior Matt Hayes (Baldwin, N.Y./Baldwin) led the team with 13 ground balls as Maritime won 15 of 19 faceoffs on the night.
 
Junior Jonathan Strezenec (Merrick, N.Y./Calhoun) set a new career-high with eight ground balls on the night. Freshman Victor Titone (Kings Park, N.Y./Kings Park) also had five ground balls, while Grubb had four on the night.
 
Pellegrino got the scoring going for the Privateers, but the Wildcats answered back just over a minute later. SUNY Polytechnic took a 2-1 lead several possessions later but Maritime was able to even things up with Danahy's first goal of the night. The Wildcats took a 3-2 lead, which held into the second quarter.
 
In the period, Maritime outscored its host by a 5-1 margin, as Ahern got the scoring started with 10:50 left in the opening half. Danahy then netted an unassisted tally in a man-up opportunity to give Maritime a one-goal lead once again, Danahy netted his second unanswered goal and third of the night to give Maritime a two-goal advantage.
 
After a SUNY Polytechnic goal, Grubb took a pass from Danahy to put Maritime up 6-4, and then added one more for good measure to give the Privateers a 7-4 lead heading into the halftime break.
 
In the second half, the Wildcats scored first but Maritime scored the next three on goals from Pellegrino, followed by Danahy with a pair to put the Privateers up by a five-goal margin at 10-5 heading to the final quarter of play.
 
SUNY Polytechnic made the game interesting in the final stanza as the Wildcats scored 48 seconds into the period. SUNY Poly scored three more times to close the gap and make the score 10-9 with 1:13 left to go in regulation.
 
The Wildcats won the ensuing possession, and McNally made a save with 16 seconds to go. As Maritime tried to clear their own zone, the Privateers were unable to hang on to the ball as the Wildcats got the ball back with eight seconds left.
 
SUNY Polytechnic took a timeout with eight seconds left to draw up a play and was able to execute the play, but McNally was up to the task as he made a last-second save to hold off the late surge by the Wildcats and give Maritime the victory.
 
Final stats saw Maritime holding an advantage in ground balls with 51, and faceoff wins with 15. The Privateers took just 21 shots, while the Wildcats had 33. Maritime was 15-of-34 on clear attempts and also 1-of-2 in man-up situations.
 
Earning the offensive game ball was Danahy, while McNally won the team's defensive game ball after the contest. Ahern picked up the Helmet Award, while junior Michael Brunk (Glenwood Springs, Colo./Glenwood Springs) was the team's Hammer Captain for the game.
 
Maritime (3-3, 0-0 Skyline) will continue its two-game road trip with a visit to New London, Conn. next as the Privateers take on Coast Guard on Wednesday evening for a 7 p.m. start against the Bears.
 
SUNY Polytechnic (1-3, 0-0 NEAC) will open up league play next Saturday as the team hosts Hilbert for a 2 p.m. start on Wildcat Field.