UTICA, N.Y. – Maine Maritime men's lacrosse beat SUNY Canton 21-18 in the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) Championship matchup on Sunday afternoon to advance to the NCAA tournament.

How it Happened: The Mariners opened up the scoring with a goal from Sam Nichol (Concord, N.H). The Kangaroos responded with two goals of their own, before Jayden Wilson (Lewiston, Maine) tied the game at 2-2 off a pass from Zeke Tocci (Naples, Maine) with 8:49 left in the first. Canton then scored five unanswered goals, until Tocci scored his first goal of the game. Canton scored the next three goals, taking a 10-3 lead, two minutes into the second quarter. The Mariners answered when Brendan Reddington (Wallingford, Conn.) found Wilson for his second goal of the game, before the Kangaroos scored again to make the score 11-4. Alex Stevens (South Portland, Maine) scored four goals in the second quarter, including a man-up one, to spark a five-goal run of their own, along with a goal from Jacob Belanger (Brunswick, Maine) to cut Canton's lead to 11-9. Canton answered with a goal prior to halftime to make the score 12-9.

The Kangaroos opened up the second half with a goal, extending their lead to four and Wilson responded for the Mariners with an unassisted goal. SUNY Canton scored two more goals, until Nichol and Wilson, assisted by Chandler Coombs (Brunswick, Maine) each scored a goal to cut the Kangaroos lead to three. SUNY Canton scored one more time in the third, before Nichol scored his third goal of the game and Stevens scored a man-up goal, assisted by Ian Haines (Cape Elizabeth, Maine), to make the score 16-14 going into the fourth. The Kangaroos started the fourth with a goal, before Nichol scored back-to-back goals and Stevens found the back of the net off a pass from Wilson to tie the game up at 17-17. SUNY Canton scored one more time, before the Mariners buried them, scoring four consecutive goals, two from Wilson, and one from Nichol and Stevens to make the score 21-18 and to win the NAC Championship!!

Inside the Numbers: Stevens led the Mariners with seven goals and two assists, along with two ground balls, while Wilson added six goals and two assists for a total of eight points, setting a Maine Maritime record for points in a season, along with six ground balls and one caused turnover. Nichol chipped in six goals and four ground balls, while Jed Astbury (Bridgewater, Vt.) tallied 11 ground balls and Oscar Kwok (York, Maine) recorded a game-high four caused turnovers.

Hunter Olson recorded seven goals and two assists for the Kangaroos, while Zack LaFave added four goals and two assists. Noel Abreu picked up 13 ground balls and Trent Dow caused three turnovers.

Zach McCarthy (Malvern, Pa.) tallied 12 saves in net for the Mariners, while Sam Servati recorded 20 for the Kanagroos.

The Mariners held a 64-40 advantage in shots and a 57-42 advantage in ground balls over the Kangaroos.

All-Tournament Team:

Jayden Wilson, MMA -- MVP
Alex Stevens, MMA
Sam Nichol, MMA
Zach McCarthy, MMA
Edward Rosaschi, SUNY Poly
Ryan Mead, SUNY Poly
Nick Dower, SUNY Delhi
Jackson Murphy, SUNY Delhi
Hunter Olsen, SUNY Canton
Zack LaFave, SUNY Canton
Austin Mesler, SUNY Canton

Up Next: Maine Maritime will represent the NAC in the 2022 NCAA National Championship tournament. Their destination and opponent will be announced via the Selection Show on Sunday, May 8 at 9:00pm.