The Buccaneers men's lacrosse team, coming off of a successful 2022 campaign that ended in the Little East Conference Semi-Finals against UMass Boston is gearing up for the 2023 season. With the retirement of six-year head coach Rick Bagby, longtime assistant coach Mike Smith has taken the reigns of the program for 2023 and beyond.

In 2022, the Bucs finished 5-3 in conference play, 8-9 overall with noteable wins over Johnson & Wales, Plymouth State, and Eastern Connecticut. In the Playoffs, they defeated Eastern Connecticut for the second time on the year and went on to face UMass Boston on the road. An instant classic insued as the Bucs and Beacons played to a 20-20 tie until the final 10 seconds of the game when the eventual conference champion Beacons scored the game winner. The Bucs outstanding first season in the Little East was capped off by All-LEC Second Team nods for attacker Mitchell Maida and defenseman Leo Allgaier. 

Maida finished the season as the Bucs top goal scorer, top assister and ultimately the teams top points getter. He scored 43 times with 33 assists for a total of 76 points. Allgaier finished the year with a goal and an assist offensively while tallying a team-high 36 caused turnovers and picked up 43 ground balls. 

For 2023, the Bucs bring back 17 players from last season including their four captains, Allgaier, Maida, Matt Mullaney, and Hugh Wells. Coach Smith welcomes 12 incoming freshman as well as a few upper classmen who have either transfered in or are rejoining the team after time away.

In Coach Smith's first season at the helm and the team's second in the LEC, the Bucs will play a 15-game schedule that begins on Saturday, March 4th on the road against Curry College. The team's home opener comes on Wednesday, March 8th against Norwich, a game the Bucs look forward to every season. Their LEC Conference slate starts on Saturday, March 25th on the road against Keene State with their first conference home game on Saturday, April 1st against Southern Maine. The Team closes our their regular season with a home game against Castleton on Friday, April 28th at 7pm. 

Maritime has been voted to finish fourth in the LEC Men's Lacrosse Preseason poll, voted on by the nine conference coaches. The Bucs finished fourth in 2022.

"We're excited to see what we bring to the table this season. We are a young team and are very capable of building off what we accomlished last season," said head coach Mike Smith. "This team knows who they are and we need to all be on the same page to move forward and succeed."

For all information on the Bucs men's lax team go to mmabucs.com Be sure to follow the Bucs on all platforms at @maritime_bucs and follow the men's lacrosse team on Instagram.