BUZZARDS BAY, Mass – Sunday morning, the Buccaneers faced off against SUNY Maritime in the Championship game of the 2019 Maritime at a snowy Clean Harbors Stadium. But, the snow didn't keep the teams from providing the fans that came out with an exciting, well-played game that ended with the Privateers winning the Maritime Classic, 10-8, over the Bucs.

Freshman attacker Alyssa Blumenthal (Braintree, Mass) led the scoring for the Bucs, scoring three goals in the game on five shots on target. She also won three draw controls and caused two turnovers. Sophomore attacking duo Anna Deely (Marstons Mills, Mass) and Casey Sullivan (Sagamore Beach) each had two goals in the game. Deely won six draw controls, most for the Bucs, and caused a game high three turnovers. Rounding out the scoring for the hosts was senior captain Erica Overstreet (Bridgewater, Mass). She scored once and added an assist in the game. Junior Cammi Balentine (Haverhill, Mass) facilitated two goals for the Bucs in the game. In goal, Laura Kleber (Westport, Mass) faced 14 shots and saved four while allowing the 10 Privateer goals.

SUNY attacker Christine Pfundstein (Deer Park, N.Y.) led all scorers with six goals in the contest on seven shots on goal and added an assist. She also led the team in caused turnovers with two. The only other multi-goal game for the Privateers came from Jillina Melford (Bronx, N.Y.) who scored twice. Ciara Murphy (Pearl River, N.Y.) and Krista Deleva (Sound Beach, N.Y.) each scored a goal in the win for SUNY. Deleva added three assists to her score line as well. In goal, Esmeralda Hernandez (Huntington, N.Y.) faced 19 Buc shots, saving 11 and allowing the eight goals.

The Privateers and Buccaneers have historically played close games when they meet in the Maritime Classic and today was no different. Every team statistic was nearly the same including shots, each team had 24, free position shots, the Privateers were 4-for-7, Bucs 3-for-7, and Clears, SUNY went 8-for-10, Mass Maritime 7-for-14.

SUNY took a 1-0 lead less than a minute and a half in to the game which was quickly answered by Deely a minute later. The teams exchanged goals for a time until the Privateers took a two-goal, 4-2 lead 10 minutes in to the first half. SUNY extended their two-goal lead out to four halfway through the half on Murphy and Melford goals. The Bucs grabbed their third goal from Overstreet to cut the lead back to three with 13 minutes left to play but the Privateers scored on a free position shot to extend the lead back to four and would make it five on a Pfundstein goal with four minutes to play. The teams went in to the half 8-3 in favor of SUNY.

In the second half, the Buccaneers defense came out of the locker room with a chip on their shoulder, ultimately only allowing two additional Privateer goals in the half. The hosts cut the deficit back to four goals quickly on a Blumenthal goal scored 40 seconds in to the second half, followed by a Deely goal five minutes later to get back within three. A minute after Deely's goal, SUNY added their ninth goal which was followed shotly by back-to-back goals from Sullivan within a minute of each other with 20 minutes to play in regulation. Back in striking distance, the two-goal deficit would be as close as the Buccaneers would get to the Privateers who scored their 10^th and final goal, a player down due to penalty, with 12 minutes to play. Blumenthal scored her third goal of the day with 10:45 to play, which closed the scoring for the game as both defenses were stout the remainder of the game. The Privateers left Buzzards Bay with the 2019 Maritime Classic Championship, 10-8 over tournament hosts, Mass Maritime.

Next up for the Buccaneers is their first road game of the season on Thursday, March 14^th at 6:30pm against Rhode Island College.