DANBURY, Conn -- The Buccaneers men's lacrosse team played their penultimate game on Saturday afternoon against WestConn on the road. Trailing the Wolves 4-1 at the hald, the Bucs outscored their hosts in the second half 6-4 and had the ball with under a minute left in regulation and were unable to complete the comeback, losing the conference matchup, 8-7. 

The Basics

Final: Wolves 8, Buccaneers 7

Records: WestConn (8-4, 3-1)

               Maritime (8-6, 4-3)

Between the Pipes

WestConn: Brendan Grove (W, 8-4): 10 Sv | 7 GA | 17 SH | 60 Min

Maritime: Eddie Keller (L, 3-3): 15 Sv | 8 GA | 23 SH | 60 Min

Inside the Numbers

Maritime

• Daniel Kane and Joe Vricella led the Buccaneers with two goals each in the game. Jack Iversen, Cooper Barrett, and Braeden Kosiewicz all scored once. 
• Quinn Mucha recorded all three of the Buccaneers assists on the day.
• Chris Sullivan collected four ground balls to lead the team.
• On the faceoff, Brian Rosher won three-of-19 faceoffs in the game. 
• Defensively, Sullivan recorded two caused turnovers to lead the Bucs. 
• In total, Maritime picked up 23 ground balls, were successful on 25-of-31 clears, won three-of-19 faceoffs, scored on one of four power play attempts, and took 39 shots total.

WestConn

• Julian Duque led all scorers with three goals in the win. Cody Suhr and Benjamin Hawthorne both had two goals and Matt Sweeney added one.
• Suhr recorded four assists in the win, Tyler Starrett recorded two, and Tristan McMahon and Hawthorne each had one.
• Nate Caldwell and Mason McClay each had five ground balls to lead all players. 
• On the faceoff, Jon Russack-Baker won 16-of-19 faceoffs.
• Defensively, four different Wolves had two caused turnovers in the game. 
• In total, WestConn picked up 32 ground balls, were successful on 23-of-28 clears, won 16-of-19 faceoffs, failed to score on their only powerplay, and took 35 total shots in the game.

How It Happened

A low-scoring, defensive affair between the Wolves and Bucs started with a goal from WestConn just under three minutes in and then another seven seconds later off the faceoff to give the hosts a 2-0 lead. They scored a third unanswered eight minutes later to give themselves a 3-0 advantage. The Buccaneers scored last in the quarter with an Iversen goal with four seconds to play. The Wolves led 3-1 after one.

There was just one goal scored in the second quarter and it came from WestConn at 8:53 from the stick of Suhr. The Wolves held a 4-1 lead over the Buccaneers at the halftime break. 

To open the second half, Maritime scored first to cut the deficit to two goals, 4-2. WestConn scored off the draw, nine seconds later, and retook a three-goal, 5-2, lead. After a six minute cold spell, WestConn scored again and were up 6-2. Barret scored next on a power play for the Buccaneers. With under four to play in the third, each team scored once. Sweeney netted a goal for the Wolves and Vricella scored for the Bucs with 2:27 left. WestConn led by three, 7-4, heading to the fourth quarter.

WestConn scored first in the fourth just past the 10-minute mark and were up four. Maritime's defense, and Keller, shut down the Wolves the rest of the way and scored three goals of their own with two from Kane and one from Vricella. The Bucs had the ball with 51 seconds in regulation and took a shot with one second to play that went wide, ending the game, 8-7, in favor of the Wolves.

What's Next

The Bucs play their final game of the 2024 season on Monday in New Hampshire against Plymouth State at 4pm in conference play.