The Maritime College men's lacrosse team's record-breaking and historic season came to a close on Wednesday afternoon as they fell in the second round of the NCAA tournament to the top-seeded Salisbury Seagulls by a score of 19-4.
The Privateers won the Skyline Conference title for the first time in program history this past weekend and went on to earn the first NCAA tournament game victory for the school in the modern era by defeating Grove City 14-13 in overtime. Maritime also set a new program record for wins in a season with 15.
Senior goalkeeper
Justin Weigold (Huntington, N.Y./Huntington) had a fantastic day in goal for the Privateers by finishing with 18 saves, tying his performance from the Skyline Conference final.
Danny Connell (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) got the offense going in the second round NCAA game by netting Maritime's first goal with just under six minutes remaining in the first period. Unfortunately, Connell and the Privateers wouldn't find the back of the net again until the third quarter. Connell scored his second goal of the game with under eight minutes left in the third period and then DeMeo cut the lead to 11-3 with less than a minute left before the final quarter.
DeMeo, the sophomore Skyline Conference Offensive Player of the Year, continued his strong performance in NCAA play by picking up his third point of the game with a fourth quarter goal, his 11
th point of the tournament.
"It was an incredible season and everybody on this team can say they're champions for the rest of their lives and that's what is important," said head coach
Justin Manjares. "These seniors went 4-10 their freshmen season so to turn it around, win a conference title and win an NCAA is a great accomplishment and shows everything they've put into the program."
Maritime will lose five seniors next season,
Justin Weigold (Huntington, N.Y./Huntington),
Michael Petty (Port Washington, N.Y./Paul D. Schreiber),
Brett Trodden (Putnam Valley, N.Y./Putnam Valley),
Rob Antonio (Stony Brook, N.Y./Ward Melville),
Ian Ziemski (Bel Air, Md./C. Milton Wright), and
Matt Kirby (Shoreham, N.Y./Shoreham-Wading River), but they still return a strong core which includes multiple All-Conference selections. In addition to DeMeo returning on the offensive end, the Privateers will return Skyline Conference Rookie of the, Year
Kevin Buser (Babylon, NY) and the Skyline Conference Defensive Player of the Year,
Mark Buchner (Wantagh, N.Y./Wantagh).
Maritime concludes the 2019 season at 15-4 overall and an undefeated record in Skyline play.
