CASTINE, Maine – Saint Joseph's College (4-4) dropped an 18-6 decision to Maine Maritime (4-3) in non-conference men's lacrosse action at Ritchie Field on Wednesday evening.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

Maine Maritime controlled the opening quarter and scored five times in the first 15 minutes to take an early 5-0 advantage. The Mariners kept rolling in the second quarter, building a 9-0 lead before Saint Joseph's broke through late in the half with goals from junior Nicolas Michaud (Wales, Maine) and sophomore Maxwell Plunske (South Windsor, Conn.), the latter being a man-up marker with one second remaining, to make it a 9-2 game at intermission.

The Monks showed signs of life in the third quarter and scored three of the frame's final four goals to trim the deficit to 10-5. Michaud started the run with his second goal of the night off an assist from senior David Cook (Upton, Mass.), sophomore Noah Schaeffer (Gray, Maine) followed with a man-up tally, and junior Brandon Cavicchi (Kingston, Mass.) added a goal off a feed from graduate student Tony Samiotes (Hampstead, N.H.).

Maine Maritime answered decisively in the fourth quarter, scoring eight times to put the game away. Cavicchi netted Saint Joseph's lone goal of the final stanza with 1:55 to play, but the Mariners had already seized full control en route to the 18-6 victory.

STATS OF THE GAME:

Maine Maritime held the edge in shots (46-31), shots on goal (31-21), ground balls (56-30), and faceoffs (20-7). Saint Joseph's converted 23 of 30 clear attempts and went 2-for-10 on extra-man opportunities, while the Mariners finished 3-for-5 with the man advantage.

THE KEEPERS:

Junior Reed Wescott (Windham, Maine) made 13 saves in a complete-game effort for the Monks. Ben Kieu earned the win for Maine Maritime after stopping 15 shots over 60 minutes.

LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:

• Nicolas Michaud – 2 goals
• Brandon Cavicchi – 2 goals, 2 ground balls
• David Cook – 3 assists
• Maxwell Plunske – 1 goal, 1 ground ball
• Noah Schaeffer – 1 goal, 1 ground ball, 1 caused turnover
• Tony Samiotes – 1 assist, 5 ground balls, 2 caused turnovers
• Joseph Kiedaisch (Jr., Westminster, Mass.) – 1 assist, 3 ground balls
• Aaron Mansfield (Jr., Wallingford, Conn.) – 4 ground balls, 2 caused turnovers
• Cody Southwick (So., Saco, Maine) – 7-of-26 faceoffs, 2 ground balls

LEADERS – MAINE MARITIME:

• Tobey Lappin – 4 goals, 4 assists
• Ryan Parent – 3 goals, 3 assists
• Trey Marcil – 3 goals, 4 assists
• Ryker Spear – 2 goals, 1 assist
• Tristan Reinhold – 2 goals
• Bryce Crowell – 20-of-25 faceoffs, 10 ground balls

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:

With the loss, Saint Joseph's falls to 3-6 in the history of the series with Maine Maritime Academy.

NEXT!

Saint Joseph's returns to GNAC play on Saturday, March 21, when the Monks travel to Northfield, Vermont, to face Norwich University at 1:00 PM.