CASTINE, Maine – Maine Maritime men's lacrosse beat MCLA, 22-10 in their North Atlantic Conference (NAC) opener Saturday afternoon.

How it Happened: The Mariners got off to a quick start when Jayden Wilson (Lewiston, Maine) found Sam Nichol (Concord, N.H.) in a man-up situation for his first goal of the day. Wilson tallied another assist on a goal scored by Alex Stevens (South Portland, Maine) and Nichol hit another goal to put the Mariners up three. Wilson scored his first goal of the afternoon in a man-down situation from Oscar Kwok (York, Maine) to make the score 4-0 with 4:10 left in the first quarter. John Hankel put the Trailblazers on the board in a man-up situation and the Mariners answered when Stevens found Jacob Belanger (Brunswick, Maine) to put Maine Maritime up by four at the end of the first quarter. The Mariners kept their foot on the gas pedal in the second quarter, scoring seven unanswered goals; two from Wilson and one each from Nichol, Stevens, Zeke Tocci (Naples, Maine), Ian Haines (Cape Elizabeth, Maine), and Chandler Coombs (Brunswick, Maine) to make the score 12-1 with 3:08 left in the half. MCLA responded with three quick goals to end the half with a score of 12-4.

Nichol started off the second half with his fourth goal of the afternoon, assisted by Brendan Reddington (Wallingford, Conn.) and Tocci found Belanger for his second of the day to extend the Mariner's lead to nine. The Trailblazers ended the third quarter with three unanswered goals to make the score 14-7. Alex Snowman (Sarasota, Fla.) found the back of the net for his first goal of the year to start of the fourth quarter off a pass from Tocci. Nichol then found Tocci for his second goal of day and Wilson hit Caden White (Woodstock, Vt.) for his first goal of the afternoon to make the score 17-7. The Trailblazers answered with a goal before Haines found Wilson for his four of day. MCLA then scored in a man-up situation before Evan Golembeske (New Milford, Conn.) quickly scored a goal off a pass from Tocci. The Trailblazers found the back of the net one more time before the Mariners ended the game with three straight goals to claim a 22-10 victory.

Inside the Numbers: Wilson led the Mariners with an impressive stat line of five goals, five assists, five ground balls, and two caused turnovers. Nichol added a career-high five goals, one assist, and one ground ball. Jed Astbury (Bridgewater, Vt.) picked up a game-high 14 ground balls and Haines, Coombs, and Will Arnone (Barrington, R.I.) each caused four turnovers.

John Hankel led the Trailblazers with five goals, two ground balls, and one caused turnover, while Nathan Haley added three goals, two assists, and four ground balls.

Ethan Snowman (Sarasota, Fla.) tallied nine saves in 60 minutes for the Mariners, while Brady Larkin recorded 22 saves for MCLA.

Maine Maritime held a 72-29 advantage in shots and 54-37 advantage in ground balls over the Trailblazers.

Up Next: The Mariners improve to 2-3 overall and 1-0 in conference, while MCLA falls to 0-4 overall and 0-1 in conference. Maine Maritime returns to action when they travel to New York to face SUNY Delhi in a conference matchup on Friday, March 25 at 4:00pm.