The Maritime College men's lacrosse team is one step closer to defending their 2019 Championship as they defeated St. Joseph's Long Island 8-7 in a hard fought semifinal game. Throughout constant rain, the Privateers were able to battle against a tough Golden Eagles defense and ultimately overcome a one-goal deficit in the fourth quarter to win the game off a goal from Colin Flannery with 2:13 left in the game.

The Privateers got off to a hot start as Bryan Keegan (Lake Grove, N.Y./Sachem North), Brian Drost (Shoreham, NY/Shoreham-Wading River), and Jack Louer (Clifton, NJ/Clifton) all scored unassisted goals in the first quarter to give them a 3-1 advantage. The Golden Eagles started to shake off the nerves in the second quarter though as they played Maritime even and kept it at a two goal advantage heading into halftime. Keegan netted another unassisted goal in the period, while Flannery found Drost for the other goal.

The St. Joseph's defense and goalkeeper Andrew Brust stepped up their game early in the second half though as they shut out the Privateers offense and were able to tie the game up at 5-5. Heading into the fourth quarter on three unanswered goals, the Golden Eagles appeared to have stolen all of the momentum in the game as they made it four straight and took a 6-5 lead with 10:30 left to play. However, Maritime wasn't going away and finally found some rhythm on offense as Flannery picked up another assist, this time to Patrick Schnell (Jericho, NY/Jericho), and then Conor Buschle scored his first goal of the game off a pass from Jack Louer (Clifton, NJ/Clifton) to give the Privateers a 7-6 lead with 4:30 left.

Although the Golden Eagles were able to answer back and tie the game, the Maritime offense had gained their confidence back and this time it was Flannery who found the back of the net off a pass from Drost. Flannery's goal with 2:13 left proved to be the difference maker as a big faceoff win from Thomas Pellicci (Manorville, NY/Eastport South Manor) and a ground ball from Keegan almost allowed the Privateers to run out the game. The Golden Eagles got possession back with 15 seconds left and managed to get a decent shot on target, but freshman goalkeeper Jack Daresta (Massapequa, NY/Massapequa) was able to turn it away and seal the win for Maritime.

Defensively, the Privateers recorded an impressive 16 caused turnovers, with Joe Kiernan (Northport, NY/Northport) and Alex Ellis (Massapequa, NY/Kellenberg Memorial) leading the way with three each, while Kieran Hendry (East Northport, NY/Commack) tallied two of his own to go with a team-high seven ground balls. Daresta recorded seven saves in goal, while Pellicci finished 11-19 at the faceoff. Flannery and Drost led the offense with three points each.

Maritime is set to host the championship game on Saturday, May 8 on Reinhart Field at 1 p.m. against Farmingdale St. Check out the post-game press conference with head coach Justin Manjares, Keegan, and Daresta below!