CASTINE, Maine -- New England College used a three-goal spurt in the second half, which broke an 8-8 deadlock, en route to a 12-9 win over Maine Maritime in a North Atlantic Conference men's lacrosse game Saturday. The Pilgrims improved to 4-0 NAC, 9-1 overall, while the Mariners fell to 5-1, 5-5.

Bronson Guimond paced Maine Maritime with three goals, while Brady Harrison and Peter Moore added two. Nicholas Betti and Alex Grant finished with a goal each. Betti, Harrison, Moore, A.J. Larrabee, Wade Severance and Nick Snelling all finished with an assist for the Mariners.

Adam Shute netted a game-high five goals for NEC, Sean Largay fired in three shots, Nick Herzog two and Skyler Saunders and Cam Scully finished with a goal each. Saunders also dished out a game-high four assists.

Grant, a defender, started the scoring when he cleared the ball and fired a shot that dribbled over the line to put MMA ahead 1-0 with 6:40 left in the opening quarter. Largay evened the game when he deposited a pass from Garrett Naimie three minutes later.

Maine Maritime opened the second quarter with consecutive scores from Guimond and Moore to lead 3-2 with 9:07 left before halftime. NEC answered with three-straight goals -- on scores from Herzog, Shute and Largay -- to take a 5-3 advantage with 2:28 left in the second. The Mariners rallied with goals from Moore and Guimond to tie the game at the break, 5-5.

Guimond opened the third with a goal beforeHarrison found Betti to give the Mariners a 7-5 lead with 10:02 left in the third. Shute found the back of the net two-straight times and Saunders connected on an unassisted goal, to put the Pilgrims ahead 8-7 with 4:53 left in the third.  Harrison evened the game 30 seconds later before Shute caused a turnover on a clear attempt by MMA and fired the ball into an open net to put NEC ahead 9-8 with one second left in the third.

Scully and Shute scored in the opening four minutes of the fourth to give NEC an 11-8 lead before Severance found Harrison to get the Mariners within two, 11-9 with 9:16 left in the game. Largay iced the game with a score with 1:49 on the clock.

NEC outshot the Mariners 57-50 and scooped more ground balls 38-31. The Pilgrims converted 5 of 8 extra-man opportunities and the Mariners were 4 of 5 on EMO. 

Maine Maritime won 15 of 25 face-offs with Jack Tragert taking 14 of 21 from the X. Ian Larcom anchored the Mariners defense with seven caused turnovers and goalie James Wilgus stopped 16 shots.

Pat Miles caused nine turnovers for the Pilgrims and Chris Galluzzo picked up the win with 15 saves.

The Mariners return to action Tuesday, 7 p.m. at Thomas.

New England College. 1 4 4 3 - 12

Maine Maritime...... 1 4 3 1 - 9

New England College SCORING: GOALS: Adam Shute 5; Sean Largay 3; Nick Herzog 2; Skyler Saunders 1; Cam Scully 1. ASSISTS: Skyler Saunders 4; Sean Largay 1; Garrett Naimie 1; William Pendleton 1; Cam Scully 1.

Maine Maritime SCORING: GOALS: Bronson Guimond 3; Brady Harrison 2; Peter Moore 2; Nicholas Betti 1; Alex Grant 1. ASSISTS: Nicholas Betti 1; Brady Harrison 1; A.J. Larrabee 1; Peter Moore 1; Wade Severance 1; Nick Snelling 1.

SHOTS - New England College 57; Maine Maritime 50.

SHOTS ON GOAL - New England College 28; Maine Maritime 24.

GOALIES - NEC: Chris Galluzzo 9-2 (60:00 minutes, 24 shots-15 saves, 9 GA); MMA: James Wilgus 4-2 (60:00, 28-16, 12).