The Maritime College men's lacrosse team bounced back after a heart-breaking season opening to SUNY Geneseo by taking out Drew University 10-5 on Wednesday night. The Privateers win was backed by an offensive explosion in the second quarter, where they netted five goals and took a 6-3 lead into halftime. 

Maritime got off to a quick start in the road contest as Ciaran McEnroe (Pearl River, N.Y./Don Bosco Prep (N.J.)) found the back of the net less than two minutes into the first quarter off an assist from Mike Leake (Rockville Centre, N.Y./South Side). However, the Rangers defense was able to stymie the Privateers for the remainder of the quarter and the teams entered the second quarter at 1-1 tie.

After a quick goal from Drew to take the lead, the offensive adjustments started to pay off for Maritime as they scored five goals before heading to the locker rooms. The key momentum change came with 17 seconds left as Brett Trodden (Putnam Valley, N.Y./Putnam Valley) scored an unassisted goal to make it a 6-3 advantage.

Matt DeMeo (Sayville, N.Y./Sayville) came up big for Maritime in the second half as he scored three of the team's four goals to help seal the first win of the 2018-19 season. The Privateers defense continued to play smothering defense and only allowed two second half goals.

Kyle Bockelman (Melville, N.Y./Half Hollow Hills East) got the start in goal and only allowed five goals on 33 total shots. The sophomore goalie finished with 17 saves in the win. DeMeo led the offensive effort with four goals, while also tallying four ground balls. Danny Connell (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) chipped in two goals and two assists, while Trodden also tallied two goals, a team-high 7 ground balls, and a team-high four caused turnovers.

"I'm happy with the adjustments the offense made to start putting up goals after the first quarter and with the way our defense limited their opportunities from start to finish," said head coach Justin Manjares. "It feels good to be in the win column, but there's still a lot of improvements we need to make and I'm looking forward to seeing what we can do in Virginia next week against some tough opponents."

Maritime heads to Virginia next week to take on Ferrum on March 6 and Hampton on March 8.