Middletown, R.I. -- Maine Maritime Academy (3-4, NEFC 2-3) combined for 343 rushing yards in a 21-19 NEFC loss to Salve Regina University (4-4; 3-2 NEFC) on Saturday afternoon. 

Michael Fahey (Union, Conn.) led the Mariners with 164 yards on 37 carries and two touchdowns, while James Ferrar (Cumberland, Maine) picked up 99 yards on 26 carries. John Doyon (Hampden, Maine) recorded six tackles, and picked up a fumble recovery in the loss for the Mariners.

Maine Maritime had converted a 4th-and-one play for a would-be go-ahead eight-yard TD run by freshman Jacob Doolan (Fairfield, Maine), but the Mariners were flagged for holding to move the ball back 10 yards to the Salve Regina 18. The Seahawks got a sack from senior defensive lineman Luke Gambale on 4th and 11 for the Mariners with 59 seconds left in the game.

Sam Pascale ran the ball in from 17-yards to cap off a five-play 48-yard drive for the Seahawks in their opening possession. Mitch Graziano scored the two-point conversion to put the Seahawks up 8-0. Salve Regina fumbled on their next two possessions but the Mariners could not capitalize on the Seahawk's early mistakes.

After a quick three and out the Seahawks were forced to punt early in the second quarter, from deep within their own territory giving the Mariners great field possession. Fahey ran the ball six-yards to put Maine Maritime on the board, and Jacob Doolan ran the ball in for the two-point conversion tying the game 8-8. 

The Mariners took the 11-8 lead with a little under a minute remaining in the first half when Johnny Weymouth (Windham, Maine) made a 41-yard field goal. Weymouth's field goal is the second longest field goal in Maine Maritime Academy history and is the longest Mariner field goal since 1996 when David McQuilkin booted a 41-yarder against Westfield State.

Alex Hulme returned the second-half kickoff from Weymouth 75 yards to the Mariner 20. Pascale and quarterback Steven Wilken had consecutive rushes of six yards each to set up 1st and goal from the Mariner eight-yard line. Six more yards from Pascale brought the ball to the two-yard line before no gain on 2nd down. Pascale punched it in from two-yards out on 3rd down for his fifth touchdown of the season. Jackie Hurley's kick was good for a 15-11 Seahawk lead.

Maine Maritime took the 17-15 lead early in the fourth quarter when Fahey rushed 18-yards for the score. The Seahawks answered right back with a 47-yard completion from Wilken to Matthew Traynor to set up a five-yard touchdown pass to Alex Hulme, making it 21-17.

The Mariners got the ball back with just under 10 minutes remaining in the game, going 64-yards before committing a costly fumble at the Seahawk's nine-yard line. Maine Maritime's defense held Salve Regina to another three and out, and blocked their punt putting the Mariners at the Seahawk's 27-yard line with four minutes remaining in the game. 

Ferrar rushed for a first down, putting the Mariners at Salve Regina's 17-yard line, but the Seahawks defense held the Mariners who were forced to turn the ball over on downs. Three straight kneel downs for Salve Regina exhausted the remaining timeouts for the Mariners, but still left five seconds on the clock for a fourth-down play. Wilken took the snap and retreated to his own endzone before going down for the safety and the final points on the scoreboard.

Wilken finished the afternoon with 116 passing yards for the Seahawks, while Pascale led the ground attack with 172 rushing yards on 30 carries and two touchdowns. 

Rory McEntee led the Salve Regina defense with 12 total tackles and 1.5 sacks.

The Mariners will return home next Saturday to host MIT at 12:00 PM on Ritchie Field.