NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Maritime men's lacrosse team endured extremely frigid temperatures but were unable to outlast the U.S. Coast Guard Bears on Wednesday evening in a road non-conference matchup, 14-8.  
 
Junior Nick Pellegrino (Melville, N.Y./Half Hollow Hills East) led Maritime with a hat trick, while sophomore Michael Petty (Port Washington, N.Y./Paul D. Schreiber), freshman Danny Connell (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford), and juniors Brett Daigle (West Sayville, N.Y./Sayville), Paul Lafrancesca (Nesconset, N.Y./Sachem North) and Julius Diaz (Freeport, N.Y./Freeport) each found the back of the net once for the Privateers. Connell and junior T.J. Ragusa (Wantagh, N.Y./Wantagh) each tallied two assists on the night.
 
On the defensive end, freshman Ciaran McEnroe (Pearl River, N.Y./Don Bosco Prep (N.J.)) and junior Joseph Hussey (Massapequa, N.Y./St. Anthony's) each caused two turnovers, and Pellegrino collected a team-high four ground balls. Freshman Mark Buchner (Wantagh, N.Y./Wantagh) also scooped up three ground balls for the Privateers. In net, junior Brendan McNally (Long Beach, N.Y./Long Beach) made 12 saves on 26 Coast Guard shots.
 
Freshman Nick San Filippo (Freehold, N.J./Colts Neck) won the opening faceoff for the Privateers who owned possession for just over one minute, but a turnover gave the ball away to the Bears who were able to strike on their first possession of the game for a quick 1-0 start. After two minutes, the Privateers answered and found the back of the mesh as a diving Connell bounced a shot off the pipe and into the net, knotting the game up 1-1.
 
Coast Guard netted the go-ahead goal one minute later and continued to apply the pressure. McNally made a nice save against Matt Nagle, but Jack Pope collected the rebound and hit the post with his shot, where Riley McNulty was able to scoop up the ground ball immediately in front of the net and put it past McNally for a man-up goal as the Bears carried a 3-1 edge.
 
Maritime picked up the pace on the offensive end, testing Coast Guard's Trey Johnson with three Privateers shots before Pellegrino found the stat sheet with 1:54 remaining, as the junior used a multitude of back and forth cuts to beat out his defender to find the lower right corner of the net.
 
Maritime then used a man-up opportunity to strike again, as Diaz collected a pass from Connell, got a good look at his target, wound up and fired from ten yards out to beat Johnson in the lower right corner with just six seconds remaining in the opening frame, tying up the match at three.
 
Daigle found Maritime's first lead of the contest on the Privateers first possession of the second quarter with a nice shot past a diving keeper, assisted by Ragusa. The Bears held the Privateers scoreless for the remainder of the quarter as Coast Guard pumped in four more goals that was ignited by a man-down goal. Coast Guard scored for the final time in the second quarter with just one second on the clock, making the halftime score 7-4.
 
After the break, the Privateers and Bears exchanged multiple trips up and down the field, but Coast Guard kept rolling and scored another goal to take an 8-4 lead. Maritime's lone goal in the third quarter eventually came off the mesh of Pellegrino, assisted by Connell.
 
Lafrancesca put in his first goal of the season, unassisted, just over 30 seconds into the final quarter. Coast Guard followed up with two more goals before Petty scored and Pellegrino put in his hat trick goal to keep the Privateers alive, but the comeback was too late as the Bears went on to score two more late in the quarter, preserving their 14-8 victory.
 
Maritime returns to the turf for a three-game stretch of home Skyline contests, first hosting Kean on Saturday, March 25^th at 3:00 P.M. The team will then host Purchase on March 29^th followed by Merchant Marine on April 1^st.
 
Coast Guard will also play on Saturday, March 25^th as they travel to Misericordia for a non-conference game.