BUCS EDGE PRIDE IN PILGRIM LEAGUE FINALE

WESTON, Mass. – The Massachusetts Maritime Academy defeated Regis College, 11-7, in Pilgrim League men's lacrosse action on Wednesday night in Weston, Mass. The Buccaneers improve to 5-8 overall and 1-3 in the Pilgrim League, while the Pride wrap up their 2013 at 4-11 overall and 0-6 in league games.

In a pregame ceremony, the Pride lacrosse team honored its three graduating seniors in Stephan Bottex (Norwood, Mass.), Andrew Goldberg (Solebury, Pa.), and Brody McCauley (Pittsfield, Mass.) for their contributions to Regis College and its athletics program. The Pride also honored fallen teammate Michael Kaplan, who passed away this past September, by retiring his #37 jersey and having a plaque made to honor Kaplan.

Maritime jumped out to an early 1-0 lead as Anthony Kurylak (Rye, N.H.) cut from the top of the zone and blasted a shot past the Regis keeper. The Pride responded with back-to-back goals from Chris Campbell (South Hadley, Mass.) and Billy Stewart (West Roxbury, Mass.) to take a 2-1 lead. Campbell scored when Nick Dallas (Huntington Beach, Calif.) found Campbell in front for a quick shot. Campbell then assisted on Stewart's tally in similar fashion as he found Stewart with an open shooting lane and hit him with a pass from the wing that Stewart buried top shelf.

Kurylak answered with his second tally of the game to tie the game at 2-2, but Stewart found the back of the net for his second goal nearly 30 second later. Nicky Rodrigo (Miami, Fla.) hit Stewart with a high pass in front, which the junior one-timed into the back of the net to give Regis the 3-2 lead. Six minutes later, Mass. Maritime scored on the man-advantage as the Bucs spun the ball around the offensive zone before John Hojnoski (West Springfield, Mass.) ended up with an open shot on net and knotted the game 3-3 with a laser strike from 10 yards out. On the ensuing Regis possession, Nicky Rodrigo picked up the ball off the restart and cut from behind the net to take a fading away low shot that found its way in and gave Regis a 4-3 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The back-and-forth affair continued in the second quarter as Kurylak beat his defender down the right side and beat Breandan Crane (Billerica, Mass.) on the short side to tie the score at 4-4. Dylan Freudenberg (Islip, N.Y.) gave Maritime its second of lead of the day with a goal on the fast break off a nice feed from Sean Staples (Norwell, Mass.), making it a 5-4 game with 12:01 to play.

After a caused turnover by Peter Leighton (Wilmington, Mass.), the sophomore found Rodrigo in front of the net where Rodrigo ripped a shot past Paul Painten (Walpole, Mass.) to tie the score at 5-5. With 3:33 remaining in the half, Adam Palilonis (Hightstown, N.J.) slipped a bounce shot through Crane's legs to put the Bucs back on top 6-5 headed into the break.

Kurylak's fourth goal of the contest at the 11:56 mark of the third quarter gave Mass. Maritime a two goal lead and John Hojnoski scored his second man-up goal of the game nearly seven minutes later to put the Bucs on top 8-5. The Pride would not go away easily as Rodrigo received a pass from Campbell and buried a crank shot from 15 yards out to cut the deficit to two. Following an MMA penalty, Billy Stewart scored on the man-up on a pass from Andrew O'Reilly (Hollis, N.H.) with 1:50 to play in the quarter and made it an 8-7 game as the teams headed into the fourth quarter.

The final stanza was all Mass. Maritime as Drew Prowse (Wakefield, Mass.) scored back-to-back goals at the 11:50 and 10:43 marks to put Maritime back on top by three. The Pride got off three shots over the next four minutes, including one on a man-up opportunity, but all of the shots missed their mark. After a turnover by Regis, John Hojnoski ripped a shot from 20 yards out that found the back of the net and gave the Buccaneers their largest lead of the game at 11-7.

Over the final six-plus minutes, the Buccaneers killed off a penalty, and following a groundball from Painten after a Jack O'Brien (Milton, Mass.) shot was blocked down, the Bucs cleared the box and ran out the final 2:41 to hang on for their first Pilgrim League win of the year.

Mass. Maritime outshot the Pride at a 41-33 clip and also held a 34-31 advantage in groundballs. Both teams were effective on clears as the Pride ended the night 9-for-14, while the Buccaneers were 16-for-22. The difference in the game was man-up opportunities as MMA went 2-for-4 with the extra attacker, compared to a 1-for-4 showing from the hosts.

Nicky Rodrigo and Billy Stewart led the Pride attack with three goals apiece. Rodrigo also added an assist, while Chris Campbell had a goal and two assists. Jack O'Brien finished the night 13-for-16 on face-offs and added a game-high nine groundballs. Stephan Bottex (Norwood, Mass.) and Dan Hammond (Mansfield, Mass.) had three caused turnovers apiece. Breandan Crane suffered the setback, allowing 11 goals while making five saves.

Anthony Kurylak scored a game-high four goals and added four groundballs for the Buccaneers. John Hojnoski recorded a hat-trick and added an assist for a four point night, while Drew Prowse had two goals and two assists for four points as well. Josh White (Marshfield, Mass.) led the Bucs defense with seven groundballs and four caused turnovers. Paul Painten picked up his fifth win of the year, making 10 saves and allowing seven goals.

Mass. Maritime returns to action on Saturday when the Buccaneers travel to Wheaton College for a 1:00 p.m. Pilgrim League contest.