THROGGS NECK, N.Y. – The SUNYIT Men's Lacrosse Team (0-5, 0-0 NEAC) held a 3-2 advantage at halftime, but were doomed by a third-quarter surge from host SUNY Maritime (4-5, 0-0 Skyline) in an 11-6 loss on Saturday.
After giving up the first goal of the game to Andrew Scalesi of the Privateers, the Wildcats answered back with 3-straight goals to take a 3-1 lead after the first quarter. Scoring twice for the Wildcats was team-leading scorer Jon Eguren (Vittoria, Spain / Cicero-North Syracuse). Eguren found the net with 10:07 to go in the quarter, then again in a man-up situation with 3:33 to go. Both goals were assisted by Adam Reynolds (Johnson City, N.Y. / Johnson City High School).
The final goal of the first quarter was scored by Brett Gifford (Cazenovia, N.Y. / Cazenovia), with sophomore Nicholas Levanti (Clayville, N.Y. / New Hartford Sr High) assisting on the play.
The Wildcats gave up a goal in the second quarter, but were in good shape taking a 3-2 lead into the half. For the second straight game, however, the third quarter was unkind to the Wildcats. The Privateers rattled off 5 unanswered goals to take a 7-3 lead, effectively putting the game out of reach barring a miracle comeback from the Wildcats.
One of the keys to the big third-quarter (and, ultimately, the game) was the play of face-off man Matt Hayes for the Privateers. Hayes won 15-of-19 faceoffs on the day, and swept all 5 attempts in the Privateers' big third quarter.
SUNYIT goalie Jeffrey Melnik (Yonkers, N.Y. / Stepinac) had a great day between the pipes to keep the game even remotely close, making a whopping 23 saves on 34 shots faced.
The Wildcats' next game will kick off the NEAC season, as they travel to Hilbert in a rematch of last season's final regular season game for SUNYIT. Emotions will most likely be high, as SUNYIT was eliminated from qualifying for the playoffs with a heartbreaking 12-11 overtime loss to Hilbert on the last day of the regular season in 2013. SUNYIT will hope to take revenge in a 2:00 pm match up this Saturday, March 29th.
