THROGGS NECK, N.Y. – The Maritime men's soccer team returns to the postseason in 2017 as the fourth seed and will host fifth seeded Old Westbury on Saturday evening at 6 p.m. on Reinhart Field.
 
The Privateers make their return to the playoffs after missing the six-team field a year ago. Under the direction of fourth-year head coach Daniel Gwyther, the Privateers finished the regular season with an 11-4-2 mark, and a 5-3-1 conference record to earn their 11th postseason appearance and 10th appearance in the last 11 seasons.
 
The team will look to advance past the first round for the first time since 2011, when the Privateers won their second of two consecutive league championships since joining the Skyline Conference.
 
Maritime will be one of four teams competing this Saturday as they host Old Westbury in the first round matchups. The other first round game will feature the third seeded Mount St. Vincent Dolphins hosting the sixth seeded Purchase Panthers. Top seeded Mount St. Mary, and second seeded St. Joseph's (LI) received byes into the semifinal round, with the Maritime/Old Westbury winner heading to Newburgh, while the Mount St. Vincent/Purchase winner will head out to Long Island.
 
This season the Privateers had the top offense in the league with 56 goals on the season for an average of 3.294 goals per game. The team also featured a stout defense allowing just 21 goals in 17 matches for a 1.24 opponents average goals per game.
 
Maritime had 160 points, which was second most all-time on 56 goals and a program-record 48 assists. Defensively the Privateer goaltending tandem combined for a .774 save percentage, and are also holding a slim lead in the single-season goals against average over the 2011 team at 1.19. This year's team also posted seven shutouts on the year, which is also a program record.
 
Scouting the #4 Maritime Privateers
Maritime's high-octane offense was powered by junior Parker Gallt (Las Vegas, Nev./Plainfield South (Ill.)), who finished the regular season with 15 goals, six assists and 36 points. Gallt had three game-winning goals to his credit including a pair of conference game-winners against Farmingdale and Old Westbury in October. He was a perfect 4-for-4 on his penalty kick changes and also scored the opening goal in five of Maritime's 17 matches.
 
Gallt has help on the midfield line in the form of freshman Anthony Palazzolo (Huntington Station, N.Y./Walt Whitman), who put together an impressive rookie campaign with nine goals and six assists for 24 points. Palazzolo also had three game-winning goals on the season including a pair of conference wins over Yeshiva and St. Joseph's (Bklyn).
 
The forward rotation of seniors Harry Colucci (Port Jefferson, N.Y./Earl L. Vandenmeulen), Corey Cartano (Raleigh, N.C./Sanderson), and sophomore Anthony Sblendorio (Bay Shore, N.Y./Bay Shore) combined for 11 goals and nine assists, including five assists from Colucci, who was the team's primary taker of corner kicks with 58 taken on the season. Colucci also added a game-winning goal in conference play as he scored the opening tally in the team's 5-0 shutout over the Gryphons.
 
Alongside Gallt and Palazzolo on the midfield line was freshman Neil Dillon (Floral Park, N.Y./Floral Park), who started in all 17 games as a rookie and chipped in with four goals and two assists on the year as he played over 1,300 minutes on the field this season. Sophomore Nicholas Ciacca (Bologna, Italy/Pelham Memorial (N.Y.)) got the start in 13 of his 15 appearances on the season and helped the possession game while also contributing with two goals and four assists on the campaign.
 
Sophomore Aleks Olthoff-Cusumano (Eastport, N.Y./Eastport-South Manor) added five goals as he appeared in all 17 games for the Privateers this season, while freshman Jake Palmer (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) saw time in 16 matches, and earned five starts on the year while he picked up one assist on the season. Freshman Luis Jimenez (Newburgh, N.Y./Canterbury School (Conn.)) appeared in 14 games for Maritime as a freshman with one start.
 
Defensively the Privateers have been sound on the year led by centerback Justin Forrest (Lusby, Md./Patuxent), who led the team with 1,505 minutes played. Juniors Joe Merendino (Pawling, N.Y./Pawling) and Chris O'Connor (Bay Shore, N.Y./Bay Shore) locked down the wings on the defensive side of the ball, while junior Lucas Antenucci (Delmar, N.Y./Bethlehem) and freshman Jerome Eastwood (Houston, Texas/Stratford) split time in the fourth defensive position for the Privateers as the unit held opponents to just 200 shots on the season, with less than half of them making their way on goal.
 
For those shots that did make their way on goal, defending Skyline Conference Rookie of the Year Michael Rodriguez (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham) was there to stop the ball as he recorded 70 saves on the season, while yielding just 21 goals on the season as he registered all 11 of the Privateer wins in goal. Rodriguez posted a 1.25 goals against average, and also had a .769 save percentage on the season.
 
Scouting the #1 Mount St. Mary Knights
Mount St. Mary earned the top seed by way of an 8-1-0 record in league play, with their one loss coming to Old Westbury in double-overtime. Against the Privateers, Mount St. Mary picked up a 1-0 overtime win on October 11.
 
Junior forward was the primary source of offense for the Knights, as he notched 17 of the team's 28 goals on the season. As the Knights scored 28 goals on the year, the defense allowed just 22, which was third-best in the conference. In goal the Knights featured two goalkeepers earning at least eight starts on the year with freshmen Tyler Rapp and Jakup Myrtja combining to make 67 stops and allow 20 of the team's 22 goals allowed.
 
Scouting the #2 St. Joseph's (LI) Golden Eagles
The Golden Eagles picked up the second seed with a 7-1-1 overall record in conference play. The Golden Eagles scored a 1-0 victory over Maritime on Reinhart Field back on September 23.
 
St. Joseph's (LI) features a two-headed attack up front with sophomore forwards Rayneri Ruiz and Damian Duda. The dynamic duo tallied 15 goals and 11 assists on the year as the Golden Eagles scored 28 goals against 30 goals allowed on the year. Rookie goalkeeper Steven Deng only posted a .686 save percentage after allowing 22 goals and stopping 48 shots en route to six wins as a rookie.
 
Scouting the #3 Mount St. Vincent Dolphins
Mount St. Vincent had the same mark as St. Joseph's (LI) with a 7-1-1 conference record, but fell to the third seed via tiebreaking rules in the Skyline Conference. The Dolphins edged the Privateers this past Wednesday by a 3-2 score on Reinhart Field.
 
Senior midfielder Andrew Gomez led the Dolphin offense this season with 10 goals including four game-winners. Juniors Julius Tumukunde and Guy Horcasitas added an additional five goals, with Tumukunde recording a team-high four assists as he took the Dolphin corner kicks. In goal Padelis Astrinidis was the team's primary goalkeeper with 13 starts and eight wins overall, he posted a 1.82 goals against average, while stopping two of every three shots sent on target by opponents.
 
Scouting the #5 Old Westbury Panthers
Old Westbury ended the conference season with the same mark as the Privateers at 5-3-1, but fell to Maritime on October 14 by the score of 1-0 on Long Island.
 
Freshman sensation Jorey Garcia led the Panther offense with 15 goals and 5 assists for 35 points on the year, including four game-winning goals. Six other players had at least two goals including junior Alexander Rutledge, who tallied five goals and three assists on the year. Junior goalie Mike Warren stopped 78 shots and was one of the leaders in the Skyline Conference with an .821 save percentage with a 1.07 goals against average as he recorded three shutouts on the year in goal for the Panthers.
 
Scouting the #6 Purchase Panthers
Sixth seeded Purchase had four wins in conference play against three losses and a pair ties. One of the Panther ties came against Maritime as the match was scoreless through a full 110 minutes.
 
Senior Kayode Tyler and junior Rob Cal were the two offensive leaders for Purchase as the pair put up identical six goal seasons with one assist apiece. Three of Cal's goals were game winners, including a pair of wins in Skyline play. Freshman Jordan Meade took over as the regular goalkeeper in late September and ran away with the job as he scored five wins while making 107 saves and allowing just 10 goals on the season.
 
Postseason Schedule
Purchase will visit Mount St. Vincent on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m., followed by the Privateers hosting Old Westbury at 6 p.m. on Saturday evening. The winner of the Purchase/Mount St. Vincent game will move on to St. Joseph's (LI) on Wednesday evening at 7 p.m., while the Maritime/Old Westbury winner will travel to Mount St. Mary for a semifinal matchup on Wednesday, also at 7 p.m.
 
The two teams remaining after Wednesday will meet in the Skyline Conference Championship next Saturday, with the highest remaining seed serving as host on November 4.