NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Maritime men's lacrosse team improved to 4-3 on the season with a win over the Coast Guard Bears on Wednesday evening by the score of 14-8 on Cadet Memorial Field.
 
Senior Paul Grubb (Merrick, N.Y./Calhoun) finished with the team lead in points on the evening as he collected four goals and two assists. Freshman Nick Pellegrino (Melville, N.Y./Half Hollow Hills East) had five points as he collected three goals and two assists, while classmate Ian Danahy (West Nyack, N.Y./Clarkstown South) had three goals and one assist to finish his night with four points.
 
Defensively four different players had caused turnovers to their credit, while junior Matt Hayes (Baldwin, N.Y./Baldwin) led the team with four ground balls. Pellegrino was second on the team with three, while rookie Paul Lafrancesca (Nesconset, N.Y./Sachem North), also had three ground balls. Freshman Brendan McNally (Long Beach, N.Y./Long Beach) finished the night with nine saves on the night for his fourth win of the season.
 
Hayes also finished the game 11-of-22 on faceoffs, while freshman Owen Hammond (Floral Park, N.Y./Kellenberg) was 3-for-3 on his faceoff attempts.
 
Grubb got the scoring going in the first quarter as he registered an unassisted goal with 2:04 gone by. Coast Guard tied the game minutes later as the Bears were able to get their first shot on goal of the game past McNally. Danahy scored next for Maritime off a pass from Grubb, followed by senior Daniel Ahern (Kings Park, N.Y./St. Dominic) putting the Privateers up by a 3-1 score.
 
After a goal from Coast Guard, Maritime tacked on two more in the period as freshman Scott Martin (Westhampton Beach, N.Y./Westhampton Beach) netted his second goal of the season off a pass from Danahy. Pellegrino then scored with 45 seconds left in the opening stanza as the Privateers moved ahead by a 5-2 score.
 
In the second quarter, neither side was able to get their offenses going until Maritime scored with 6:39 left in the half as Grubb picked up his second of the contest off a pass from Pellegrino. The Privateers scored less than a minute later as Danahy picked up a man-up goal to give Maritime a comfortable 7-2 lead.
 
Maritime was able to outscore Coast Guard 2-1 in the final minutes of the half as Grubb collected his third of the game, and Pellegrino netted a man-up goal off a pass from senior Mike Gangarossa (Farmingdale, N.Y./St. Anthony's).
 
The third quarter saw Maritime get outscored by a 2-1 margin, as the period proved to be the lowest scoring of the game. In the period, Maritime's lone goal came from Martin, as he picked up his second of the night.
 
The Privateers picked up the first goal of the fourth quarter as Danahy picked up his third of the game just over a minute into the session as he gave the Privateers a six-goal lead at 11-5. Coast Guard scored three of the game's next four goals, with sophomore Kevin Izzo (Cutchogue, N.Y./Mattituck) netting his third of the season off a pass from freshman Joe Fusco (Hopewell Junction, N.Y./John Jay-East Fishkill) during that time for the Privateers.
 
Maritime capped off the game with two more goals as Grubb scored his fourth of the game and 10th of the season, while Pellegrino added his team-leading 17th of the year, both unassisted goals as the Privateers won by a 14-8 score.
 
Final stats saw Maritime take 32 shots, while Coast Guard recorded 39. Ground balls were fairly close as the Privateers picked up 26, and the Bears picked up 27. Maritime also won 14-of-25 faceoffs, while capitalizing on 2-of-4 extra-man opportunities.
 
Offensive game ball accolades went to Martin, while McNally picked up the game's defensive game ball. The team's Helmet Award went to freshman midfielder Anthony Gervasio (Huntington, N.Y./Walt Whitman), while Danahy served as the team's Hammer Captain for the game.
 
Maritime (4-3, 0-0 Skyline) will open up Skyline Conference play on Saturday afternoon on Reinhart Field as the team is slated to kick off the league slate against the Kean Cougars beginning at 1 p.m.
 
Coast Guard (1-5, 0-0 NEWMAC) will also open up league play on Saturday afternoon as the team travel's to take on MIT beginning at 1 p.m.