MADISON, N.J. -  The Maritime Men's Lacrosse team picked up its first win of the 2017 season and never trailed against the Drew Rangers by a score of 11-7 at Ranger Stadium on Thursday evening.
 
The Privateers performed solidly on the offensive end the entire contest, netting at least two goals each quarter, and also going 4-of-4 on man-up opportunities. Junior Nick Pellegrino (Melville, N.Y./Half Hollow Hills East)'s four goals and two assists led Maritime's scoring, while juniors Ian Danahy (West Nyack, N.Y./Clarkstown South) and Julius Diaz (Freeport, N.Y./Freeport) and freshman Danny Connell (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) each contributed with two goals for the Privateers. Connell also added two helpers for Maritime, while on the defensive end, Pellegrino led with eight ground balls. Brendan McNally (Long Beach, N.Y./Long Beach) had an impressive showing in goal, stopping 15 Ranger shots.
 
Maritime came out ready to fight, firing four straight goals past the Rangers to begin the first quarter. The Privateers jumped on the Rangers early as Maritime won the opening face-off and scored right away with Connell putting Maritime on the board first with an unassisted goal. Just two minutes later, Drew turned the ball over before Connell found the back of the mesh once again with a hand from Pellegrino. Shortly after, it was Pellegrino's time to shine, first netting a goal of his own at the 5:31 mark before capitalizing with a man-up goal just two minutes later. Drew's Tom Cotroneo stopped the bleeding with 39 seconds remaining in the first quarter, cutting into the Privateer lead, 4-1.
 
Maritime took command early once again in the second quarter as this time it was junior Brett Daigle (West Sayville, N.Y./Sayville) adding a goal of his own for the Privateers, assisted by Pellegrino. Drew responded with three straight goals to cut the deficit to one goal, 5-4. A penalty on Drew gave Maritime the man-up opportunity with 46 seconds remaining before the break, where Danahy found an opportunity to net his second goal of the season with the help of Connell, sending the Privateers to the locker room with a two-goal lead at the midway point.
 
The Privateers continued to roll in the third quarter, shutting out the Rangers in the frame, 2-0. Despite not finding the back of the net until late in the quarter, the Privateers added two insurance goals by Pellegrino and Danahy, both within the final two minutes of the frame.
 
Julius Diaz (Freeport, N.Y./Freeport) then found his own spark, taking advantage of a two-minute long non-releasable Drew penalty and put his third and fourth goals of the season in within a minute and a half long stretch to extend the Privateer lead to 10-4. The Rangers made a solid push to come back and threatened the Privateers late, nailing the post with two shots and answering with two man-up goals that occurred just over one minute of each other. With 56 seconds left in the contest and holding a comfortable three-goal lead, Pellegrino sealed the deal for Maritime, netting his fourth and final goal of the contest to pull the Privateers away, 11-7.
 
With the win, Maritime now improves to 1-1 on the season. The squad will return to action for their home opener against Salve Regina on Saturday, March 4^th which will be contested at the Purchase Turf Field on the campus of Purchase College. 
 
Drew, now 0-2 on the season, will look for its first win of the 2017 season when they head down south to Misenheimer, N.C. for a non-conference contest against Pfeiffer.