UNION, N.J. – On Saturday afternoon, the Maritime Men's Lacrosse team opened Skyline Conference play and fell to the Kean Cougars by the score of 14-6 on Alumni Field in Northern New Jersey.
 
On the game, six different Privateers scored as senior Peter Rooney (Long Beach, N.Y./Chaminade), juniors Kevin Izzo (Cutchogue, N.Y./Mattituck) and Joe Fusco (Hopewell Junction, N.Y./John Jay-East Fishkill), sophomores T.J. Ragusa (Wantagh, N.Y./Wantagh) and Julius Diaz (Freeport, N.Y./Freeport), and freshman Ian Ziemski (Bel Air, Md./C. Milton Wright) all found the back of the net. Sophomore Nick Pellegrino (Melville, N.Y./Half Hollow Hills East) added an assist to extend his point-streak to 20 games, dating back to his freshman season.
 
Sophomore Paul Lafrancesca (Nesconset, N.Y./Sachem North) tallied Maritime's lone caused turnover on the contest, while classmates Joseph Hussey (Massapequa, N.Y./St. Anthony's) and Ian Ballou (Williamsburg, Va./Bruton) led the team with three ground balls apiece. Senior Matt Hayes (Baldwin, N.Y./Baldwin) picked up two ground balls as he went 6-for-21 on faceoffs, while senior Jordan Rose (Levittown, N.Y./Holy Trinity), junior Jack Johnson (Annandale, Va./Annandale), and sophomore John Piscitello Jr. (Bayville, N.Y./Locust Valley) all picked up two ground balls.
 
In goal, sophomore Brendan McNally (Long Beach, N.Y./Long Beach) made the start and recorded 13 saves while yielding the initial 13 Cougar goals. Freshman Justin Weigold (Huntington, N.Y./Huntington) was up next and allowed one goal, followed by Ballou, who ended the game in goal for the final 8:14 and made three stops.
 
Kean jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead, but Maritime answered as Fusco recorded the first Privateer goal of the day. The Cougars added the next four goals, and Maritime responded with Ragusa collecting his 11th goal of the year off a Pellegrino pass to make the score 7-2 with 18 seconds remaining in the opening period.
 
In the second quarter, Kean added to the lead at 10-2 with three unanswered. Diaz picked up his 11th of the year with 3:23 left in the half to cut the lead down to seven heading into the halftime break.
 
After the intermission, Kean scored the lone three goals of the third period to take a 10-goal advantage at 13-3 as play progressed into the final quarter.
 
In the fourth, Rooney got on the board with his second on the season, but Kean answered back with a goal to retake its 10-goal edge. Izzo and Ziemski scored in the final four minutes of play to cap off the scoring at 14-6.
 
Maritime (5-3, 0-1 Skyline) will wrap-up non-conference action for the year on Wednesday evening, when the Privateers travel to Merchant Marine for their final out-of-league contest with game time set for 7 p.m.
 
Kean (6-3, 1-0 Skyline) will play on the road this coming Wednesday, when the Cougars visit the FDU-Florham Devils for a 7 p.m. start in Madison, N.J.