CASTINE, Maine – The Maritime men's lacrosse team routed Maine Maritime behind a six-point game by freshman Danny Connell (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) in the 2017 Maritime Cup as the Privateers defeated the Mariners 16-0 on a cold Friday afternoon at Ritchie Field.
 
The shutout is just the third in program history for Maritime and the first since the Privateers defeated Bard College on April 7, 2010, 25-0. The defensive effort was impressive throughout as Maritime did not particularly dominate any statistical category and needed 14 saves to hold the Mariners scoreless for the afternoon.
 
Ten different players scored for Maritime in the win, led by a four-goal effort by Connell. Junior Nick Pellegrino (Melville, N.Y./Half Hollow Hills East) found the back of the net three times and sophomore Ian Ziemski (Bel Air, Md./C. Milton Wright) put home two shots as the only multi-goal scorers. Junior T.J. Ragusa (Wantagh, N.Y./Wantagh) added three assists and Pellegrino and Connell recorded two helpers as well. Freshman Nick San Filippo (Freehold, N.J./Colts Neck) recorded five ground balls on the day and went 8-for-16 in the faceoff circle. Also leading on the defensive end was junior Paul Lafrancesca (Nesconset, N.Y./Sachem North) who caused three Mariner turnovers.
 
Junior Brendan McNally (Long Beach, N.Y./Long Beach) made ten saves in goal for the Privateers to earn the win and fellow junior Ian Ballou (Williamsburg, Va./Bruton) added four saves to help complete the shutout. Sophomore goalkeeper Justin Weigold (Huntington, N.Y./Huntington) also saw time between the pipes in the contest.
 
The Privateers jumped on top early in the contest, when Pellegrino netted his first of the game 1:18 into the first quarter. Maritime tripled the lead with two more goals in the next four minutes to go up 3-0 midway through the opening frame. A man-down goal from freshman Mark Buchner (Wantagh, N.Y./Wantagh) and Connell's first of the game made it a five-goal game at the end of the first quarter. It was more of the same in the second quarter as Connell buried a shot 37 seconds into the second stanza to ignite another five goal period for Maritime as they took a 10-0 lead into the halftime break. McNally stopped eight Mariner shots in the half in an impressive showing in goal over the first thirty minutes of action.
 
Five different players scored in the third quarter for Maritime including senior Kevin Izzo (Cutchogue, N.Y./Mattituck), junior Brett Daigle (West Sayville, N.Y./Sayville), freshmen Davis Chewey (Virginia Beach, Va./Frank W. Cox), and Mike Gomes (Dix Hills, N.Y./Commack), and Ziemski to make it 15-0 with 15 minutes to play. Ziemski netted his final and the game's final tally with 13:11 remaining in the final quarter and the Privateers held the Mariners scoreless the rest of the way for the shutout victory, 16-0.
 
With the win, Maritime improves to 2-2 on the season while Maine Maritime slips to 0-3. With tomorrow's contest against Massachusetts Maritime postponed, the Privateers will return to action with their Skyline opener against Mount Saint Vincent on Saturday with faceoff slated for 1:00 pm.