AMCATS fall to Buccaneers in non-conference battle, 7-5

PAXTON, Mass.  – Anna Maria College senior Rod Henriques (Saugus, MA) notched a seasons-first hat trick, however Massachusetts Maritime Academy recorded a come-from-behind 7-5 victory in a non-conference men's lacrosse matchup at a rainy, windy and cold AMCAT Field on Tuesday evening. The game marked the season opener for the Buccaneers who improve to 1-0, while the 'Cats fall to 1-2 on the season.

Freshman Lucas Stralka (East Greenwich, RI) added a goal and an assist while senior Jason Baker (Billerica, MA) also found the back of the twine for the AMCATS.

MMA had a pair of players who tallied three-goals in the victory. Sophomores Dylan Freudenberg (Islip, NY) and Drew Prowse (Wakefield, MA) each netted hat tricks, and freshman Sean Staples (Norwell, MA) added two assists for the Buccaneers.

The two teams battled to a scoreless tie through the first ten minutes of the match before, with the man-advantage, Henriques took a feed from freshman Scott Henry (Warwick, RI) and found the back of the net to give AMC an early 1-0 advantage.

The AMCATS struck again four minutes into the second stanza for another power-play goal, as Jason Baker scored off a saucer pass from Stralka to extend the AMC lead to 2-0. Maritime potted the games next two goals of the second quarter as Freudenberg and Anthony Kurylak scored a pair of unassisted goals to even the score 2-2 at intermission.

The Buccaneers broke the game open in the second half scoring three unanswered goals to take a 5-2 lead. Anna Maria was able to stop the bleeding when Stralka scored a nifty unassisted goal to cut the lead to 5-3 at the end of the third.

MMA extended their lead to 6-3 when Prowes scored his second of the night just seven seconds into the fourth quarter. Anna Maria answered just 40 seconds later with an Henriques unassisted tally. The teams traded goals late for the 7-5 final.

Freshman Joshua Giarratano, the reigning GNAC Goalie of the Week, performed well in net for AMC, making 13 saves in the loss. His counterpart Paul Painten had seven saves for his first win of the season.

The AMCATS will look to bounce back on Thursday when they host Nichols College at 6:00 pm.