HACKETTSTOWN, N.J. – The Maritime men's lacrosse team opened the 2017 season on Saturday afternoon on Reeves Field against the Centenary Cyclones and fell by the score of 16-10.
 
Juniors Julius Diaz (Freeport, N.Y./Freeport) and Nick Pellegrino (Melville, N.Y./Half Hollow Hills East) led the Privateers with two goals each, while six other Privateers also scored on the game. Junior Ian Danahy (West Nyack, N.Y./Clarkstown South), and sophomores Patrick Fay (Nanuet, N.Y./Nanuet), and Ian Ziemski (Bel Air, Md./C. Milton Wright) scored their first goals of the season; while junior Brett Daigle (West Sayville, N.Y./Sayville) and freshmen Danny Connell (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) and Jackson Specht (Mullica Hill, N.J./Clearview Regional) all scored their first career goals with the Privateers.
 
In goal, sophomore Justin Weigold (Huntington, N.Y./Huntington) made the first start of his career and stopped six shots before giving way to junior Ian Ballou (Williamsburg, Va./Bruton), who stopped seven shots for the Privateers.
 
Specht also led the defensive effort with a pair of caused turnovers, while six others also forced turnovers including juniors Joseph Hussey (Massapequa, N.Y./St. Anthony's), Paul Lafrancesca (Nesconset, N.Y./Sachem North), John Piscitello Jr. (Bayville, N.Y./Locust Valley), and freshman Joe Lugo (Dix Hills, N.Y./Half Hollow Hills East). Freshman Ciaran McEnroe (Pearl River, N.Y./Don Bosco Prep (N.J.)) and Lugo led the team with three ground balls apiece.
 
Rookie Nick San Filippo (Freehold, N.J./Colts Neck) got a bulk of the faceoff duties and won 10-of-17, while senior Jack Johnson (Annandale, Va./Annandale) won 5-of-11 from the 'X'.
 
Centenary opened the contest with a goal just 2:03 into the opening period, but Diaz was able to even the score a few minutes later off a pass from Daigle. The Cyclones added the next two goals before Connell trimmed the lead to one with less than a minute left in the stanza.
 
The Cyclones tallied the next six goals and opened up a 9-2 advantage. Fay and Pellegrino closed out the opening half with back-to-back goals and sent the Privateers into the locker room down by five.
 
After the break, Maritime picked up where it left off as Diaz notched his second goal of the game to make it a 9-5 score. Another pair of Cyclone goals was followed by a goal from Daigle, before another Centenary goal gave the Cyclones a 12-6 lead.
 
Specht scored the third Privateer goal of the third quarter, before Danahy, Pellegrino, and Ziemski all added fourth quarter goals to make the final score 16-10 in favor of the Cyclones.
 
Maritime (0-1) will play its next game back in New Jersey when the Privateers visit the Drew Rangers at 7 p.m. in Madison, N.J.
 
Centenary (1-0) will host the Alvernia Crusaders on March 1 at 3 p.m. on Reeves Field.