Box Score LEXINGTON, Mass.--Maine Maritime Academy scored three goals over a span of 6 minutes and 3 seconds overlapping both halves to earn a 3-1 come-from-behind win at Lesley University on Saturday at Minuteman High School Field, clinching the No. 2 seed in the 2024 North Atlantic Conference Men's Soccer Tournament that starts next weekend.

The Mariners improve to 7-7-2 overall and 6-3-1 with 19 points in the NAC East Division, while the Lynx drop to 3-12-1 on the season and 2-7-1 in the NAC-East.

Maine Maritime head coach Billy Shannon said after the game, "Respect to Lesley for playing well, and competing to the last whistle today. They were organized and made it difficult to get anything going in the first half. And honestly, they kept us from creating much at all in the attack until a late passage of play from Dillon Wilkinson, Gabe Toledo and John-John Dickenson that resulted in the equalizer."

Maine Maritime Highlights

• Junior tri-captain John-John Dickenson scored a pair of goals and had an assist for five total points--a career best--on the afternoon.
• Sophomore Connor Phelan notched what proved to be the game-winning goal.
• Freshman goalkeeper Vladimir Ouellette played the final 45 minutes and made three saves to get credit for the win.

Lesley Highlights

• Nick Wadleigh scored the lone goal for the Lynx.
• Dj Cronin had an assist.

How It Happened

• Both teams had four shots on goal among 11 total.
• Lesley had an 8-2 advantage on corner kicks.
• Wadleigh gave the home team a 1-0 lead in the 13th minute.
• With 2 minutes and 16 seconds left before halftime, Dickenson scored his first goal of the day on a feed from sophomores Gabriel Toledo and Dillon Wilkinson.
• Phelan put MMA ahead for good in the 48th minute after taking a pass from Dickenson.
• Dickenson then added an insurance goal 1:42 later to make it a 3-1 lead in the 49th minute.
• The Lynx outshot the Mariners 7-4 after that and continued to press. But the MMA defense came up with two blocks, Ouellette made his three stops and the team defended three corner kicks in the final four minutes to shut down LU.

"The two early second-half goals by Connor and John-John were well earned and gave us some breathing room, allowing us to settle into more comfortable spells of possession until late when we had to do the job to defend and see the match out. Credit to the guys for fighting back from a goal down, and finding a way to manage the result we were looking for," said Shannon.

Beyond the Boxscore

• Maine Maritime leads the all-time series 4-0, outscoring the Lynx 13-2.
• The Mariners were picked for third in the 2024 NAC coaches' preseason poll.
• Dickenson is now tied for the team lead with 12 points on four goals and a MMA-best four assists.

Next Up

• Maine Maritime plays UMaine-Farmington in a No. 2 vs. No. 3 seed matchup during the NAC East Quarterfinals in Waterville, Maine, hosted by Thomas College. The postseason begins on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. "Now it's onto the postseason where we know we're going to need a complete 90-plus-minute performance to be able to beat UMF and advance," Shannon stated.