BUZZARDS BAY, Mass -- Saturday afternoon, the Buccaneers men's lacrosse team hosted Maine Maritime in their annual matchup for the Admiral's Cup. The Mariners gave the Bucs fits throughout the game but the defensive play and offensive attack was too much for Maine as the Bucs won the game 13-9 to remain undefeated in 2023.

The Basics

Final: Buccaneers 13, Mariners 9

Records: Mass. Maritime (3-0)

               Maine Maritime (1-1)

Between The Pipes

Mass. Maritime: Dean Fey (W, 1-0): 14 sv | 9 ga | 23 sh | 60 min

Maine Maritime: Garrett Ruszkowski (L, 1-1): 11 sv | 13 ga | 24 sh | 60 min

In The Field

Mass. Maritime

• Mitchell Maida scored four goals to lead all scorers in the game.
• Gage Coolahan and Ryan McDonough each scored three times. 
• Jack Iversen scored twice and Ryan Cameron scored once to round out the scoring in the win.
• Daniel Kane recorded three assists, the most of any player. 
• Iversen recorded two helpers. McDonough, Leo Allgaier, Braeden Kosiewicz, and Doug Walker each had one assist.
• Brian Rosher picked up a team-high six ground balls and won 14 of 26 faceoffs.
• Defensively, Maide caused four turnovers and Allgaier caused three.
• The Bucs picked up 36 ground balls, were successful on 16-of-20 clears, won 14-of-26 faceoffs, and took 59 total shots.

Maine Maritime

• Jayden Wilson led the Mariners with three goals.
• Jacob Hintermaier scored twice. Four other players scored once.
• Alex Stevens and Sam Nichol each had two assists. Four other players had one assist each.
• Jed Astbury picked up a game-high eight ground balls and won 12 of 26 faceoffs.
• Defensively, Ben Elliott caused four turnovers and Will Arnone caused three.
• The Mariners picked up 32 ground balls, were successful on 14-of-20 clears, won 12-of-26 faceoffs and took a total of 33 shots in the loss.

How It Happened

The Buccaneers scored the first four goals of the game though it took over seven minutes for them to break the scoreless tie. McDonough scored the first from Kane at 7:57 and Maida followed that up with his first 51 seconds later from Walker. Iversen scored unassisted at 5:39 and Coolahan scored from Iversen at 4:01. Down 4-0, Maine got a goal back before the end of the quarter from Wilson at 2:27, from Nichol. The Bucs took their 4-1 advantage to the second.

Maine would tie the game up in the first six minute of the second with goals from Jacob Belanger, and two from Hintermaier at 13:21, 9:47 and again at 9:14 respectively. With the game tied at fours, the Buccaneers retook the momentum and scored three times to regain a three goal lead. Coolahan scored from Kane, Maida from Allgaier and McDonough scored a power play goal from Kosiewicz at 1:53 to give the Bucs a 7-4 lead at the halftime break.

The Buccaneers continued their scoring run after the break extending it to six goals unanswered with scores from Cameron, Mcdonough on another power play and Maida making it 10-4 Bucs. Maine grabbed two back over a two minute span, both in man up opportunities from Caden White and Wilson. Up 10-6, the Buccaneers scored once more in the quarter from Iversen to make it 11-6 going into the fourth.

Maine scored first in the fourth on a Stevens goal and the Bucs followed that up with back to back goals, the first less than 30 seconds after the Stevens goal, from Coolahan, and the second at 7:27 from Maida. With the score at 13-7, Maine attempted a comeback grabbing two goals in the final 2:11 but it wouldn't be enough as the Bucs remained undefeated, 3-0, after winning the Admiral's Cup 13-9 over their friends from Maine.

What's Next

The Buccaneers will host Rivier on Wednesday, March 15th at 7pm at Clean Harbors Stadium.