THROGGS NECK, N.Y. – The Maritime men's lacrosse team is headed to the Skyline Conference postseason for the first time since the 2011 season as the Privateers edged out the Mount St. Mary Knights on Reinhart Field by the score of 13-12 on Saturday afternoon.
 
With the victory the Privateers clinched the second seed in the upcoming Skyline Conference Championship, and will host third-seeded Mount St. Mary beginning at 7 p.m. on Wednesday evening on Reinhart Field.
 
The Privateers trailed by a 12-9 score late in the third quarter but scored the final four goals of the game to pick up the come-from-behind victory.
 
Freshman Matt DeMeo (Sayville, N.Y./Sayville) led the Privateers with seven points as he scored a team-best four goals and a team-high three assists on the afternoon. With his 35th goal of the season, DeMeo moved to first amongst single-season goals in the men's lacrosse modern era (2005-Present), breaking the previous single-season mark of Stephen Doherty '10, who had 34 goals as a sophomore in 2008.
 
Senior Nick Pellegrino (Melville, N.Y./Half Hollow Hills East) added five points with three goals and two assists, while sophomore Danny Connell (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) and freshman Collin Flannery (Shoreham, N.Y./Shoreham-Wading River) each had two goals on the afternoon. Senior Ian Danahy (West Nyack, N.Y./Clarkstown South) scored the game-winning goal to put the Privateers up for good, while senior T.J. Ragusa (Wantagh, N.Y./Wantagh) opened the scoring with a goal on the afternoon as well.
 
Senior Brett Trodden (Putnam Valley, N.Y./Putnam Valley) led the defensive effort with three caused turnovers while Pellegrino along with junior Matt Kirby (Shoreham, N.Y./Shoreham-Wading River) and sophomore Mark Buchner (Wantagh, N.Y./Wantagh) all had two forced turnovers apiece. Ragusa was 8-of-14 on faceoff attempts, while freshman Joey Manno (Port Washington, N.Y./Paul D. Schreiber) was 6-of-15 on the game. Buchner led the ground ball battle with seven ground balls, while Trodden, DeMeo and junior Michael Petty (Port Washington, N.Y./Paul D. Schreiber) each had five loose ball pickups on the afternoon.
 
In goal, senior Brendan McNally (Long Beach, N.Y./Long Beach) allowed all 12 of Mount St. Mary's goals, but stopped 20 shots on the afternoon to give him 152 saves on the season.
 
Ragusa opened up the scoring with 12:12 left in the opening quarter on an unassisted effort to give the Privateers the early 1-0 lead. Mount St. Mary answered with the next two, to take its first lead of the game less than a minute later with 11:19 left in the period. Pellegrino took a feed from DeMeo to tie the score at two, while the Knights answered back again to regain a one-goal edge.
 
As the high-scoring first quarter progressed, Maritime wrestled the lead back with DeMeo netting the equalizer before Flannery scored his 15th of the season to put the Privateers back in front. Mount St. Mary closed the first quarter with two unanswered to take a 5-4 lead into the second quarter.
 
Connell opened up the scoring in the second to tie the contest at five, but Mount St. Mary scored the next five to open up a four-goal advantage. Pellegrino scored with less than a minute to go in the half to stop the Knights' offensive run and send the teams into the halftime break with Mount St. Mary leading 9-6.
 
In the third Mount St. Mary scored just over a minute into the frame before Maritime scored the next goal as Pellegrino found DeMeo with 12:38 to go in the third. After Mount St. Mary scored a man-up goal, the Privateers struck back with two unanswered to slice the lead back down to two. Mount St. Mary scored next, but the Privateers responded immediately with a goal right off of the face-off scrum as the Privateers trailed 12-10 heading into the fourth.
 
With 15 minutes left to play the Privateers struck first as Pellegrino scored a man-up goal with 13:06 to go to pull Maritime back within one. DeMeo added his team-leading 35th goal of the year with 12:05 to go as the Privateers evened the score at 12. Maritime played well with possession down the stretch of the game and had several scoring opportunities but it was Danahy to break through as he was fed by DeMeo to finish the comeback and give Maritime the 13-12 lead with 7:13 to go.
 
The Privateers continued to possess, and only had one shot clock warning called against them in the waning minutes. A few costly Mount St. Mary penalties sealed the win for the Privateers as the Knights were unable to comeback from the man-down chance.
 
Prior to the game Maritime recognized the 11 that made up its senior class including McNally, Pellegrino, Danahy, Paul Lafrancesca (Nesconset, N.Y./Sachem North), Anthony Gervasio (Huntington, N.Y./Walt Whitman), John Piscitello Jr. (Bayville, N.Y./Locust Valley), Ian Ballou (Williamsburg, Va./Bruton), Ragusa, Brett Daigle (West Sayville, N.Y./Sayville), Trodden, and senior manager Daniel Press (/).
 
Maritime (10-4, 4-2 Skyline) reaches the Skyline Conference Championship for the first time since 2011, and will host its first playoff game since the 2008 campaign, when it was also the two seed. The 10 wins this season is also the first 10-win season since 2008, when Maritime finished 11-5. The Privateers will once again host the Mount St. Mary Knights on Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. in the Skyline Conference semifinals on Reinhart Field.
 
Mount St. Mary (12-5, 4-2 Skyline) finished the season with double-digit wins for the second time in the past three seasons as the team qualifies for the Skyline Conference Championship for the second time in as many seasons. The Knights will head back to Reinhart Field on Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. to face the Privateers.