Merchant Marine - 18, Farmingdale State - 13
Farmingdale, N.Y. - Senior midfielder Chris Whitenack (East Meadow, N.Y.) won 29-of-34 faceoffs leading Merchant Marine to an 18-13 conference victory over Farmingdale State today. The FSC men's lacrosse team is now 9-4 overall and 3-3 in the Skyline.
Trailing 8-4 with 4:56 remaining in the second quarter, the Rams used a goal by senior midfielder Stephen White (Copiague, N.Y.) off Ryan Wieczorek's (West Islip, N.Y.) pass to close within three. Only 31 seconds later, Wieczorek cut the deficit to two, 8-6, after netting the pass from senior midfielder Nick LeBright (Levittown, N.Y.). The Mariners (7-2, 5-1) tallied the final goal of the quarter and took a 9-6 advantage into halftime on an unassisted score by Pat Coll (Clifton Park, N.Y.) with 51 seconds left.
Over the first 4:01 after the break, FSC recorded goals from Wieczorek, senior midfielder Patrick Cowcer (East Northport, N.Y.) and senior midfielder Mike Curry (Melville, N.Y.) to tie the game at 9-9. Merchant Marine quickly answered with three consecutive goals before a man-up goal by senior attack Tyler Rifice (Bohemia, N.Y.) and an unassisted score from Curry pulled the Rams back within one, 12-11, after three quarters.
Merchant Marine sophomore attack Jack Renard (San Clemente, Calif.) opened the fourth with back-to-back goals to extend the lead to 14-11. After a pair of goals by the Mariners put Merchant Marine up 16-11 with 5:53 remaining, Rifice responded with two straight goals to pull the Rams within three, 16-13. Merchant Marine added the final two scores of the game for the 18-13 win.
Curry finished the day with a team-high five points on four goals and one assist to go along with three ground balls, while Rifice had three goals. Wieczorek and White each recorded two goals and an assist and sophomore defender Dan Panzarino (Oceanside, N.Y.) picked up a team-leading eight ground balls. Senior goalkeeper Brendan Schade (Holbrook, N.Y.) stopped a season-high 18 shots in the loss.
Whitenack, who won a game-high 29 faceoffs, picked up 23 ground balls, scored three goals and added one assist for the Mariners.
The Rams next will play host to Maritime for Senior Night on Wednesday, April 12th at 7:00 p.m.
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