Buccaneers Steal Game from AMCATS

PAXTON, Mass – The Massachusetts Maritime Academy Buccaneers travelled to Paxton Saturday afternoon to play the AMCATS. A slow moving game quickly changed gears in to a scoring fest that the Bucs won in the end, 14-7.

Cameron Perry led the AMCATS in scoring on the day with three goals on six shots on target. Brandon Pavoni added another goal to his season tally which now stands at 18, and added an assist in the game. Freshman Jake Klemba, who missed the 'Cats previous game, was back on the field Saturday and scored his 12^th goal of the season on two shots on net while also assisting on a goal. The other AMCAT goals were scored by Ryan Rockwal and Zion Mercado. Goalie Paul Schwarz faces 38 Buccaneers shots, allowing 14 goals and making 24 saves in a frustrating 60 minutes.

For the Buccaneers, Edward Powers and Benjamin Avakian each netted four goals in the game. Avakian added two assists to his score line, Powers also had an assist. Franklin Ragge also had a multi-goal game, with three on five shots on target. Cody Livermore, Jack Moran and Keaghan Bartley each had one score in the game, Livermore and Moran had two assists. Goalie Michael Dolan improved his season record to 3-1 with the win. He made 14 saves off of 21 'Cats shots on the afternoon.

The first quarter saw no scoring what so ever as both teams had their chances but were unable to take advantage of them and break the score open with both defenses playing well.

In the second, Maritime opened the scoring nine seconds in on an Avakian goal assisted by Michale Sharry. The Bucs wasted no time adding to that lead, scoring just 30 seconds later to make it 2-0. The AMCATS would get a goal back to cut the lead in half when Perry score his first, unassisted, with 7:36 left on the clock. After a penalty by Anna Maria that left them a man down, Powers scored for the Bucs at the 6:02 mark of the period which was followed up by two more Maritime goals by Avakian and Moran. With 3:35 left in the half, the AMCATS saw the deficit grow to four goals, 5-1. With under two minutes left, Rockwal and Perry netted a goal each, Perry's assisted by Brady Seymour, to cut the Maritime lead to 5-3 at the half.

At the end of the second, the AMCATS picked up a penalty which caused them to be a man down to start the second half. 21 seconds in to that 30 second penalty, the Buccaneers got the first goal of the day from Ragge, their second man-up goal in the game, to take a three goal, 6-3 lead. For the second time in as many quarters, the 'Cats scored two unanswered goals at the 7:55 and 5:20 marks to pull within one goal. The momentum seemed to be on the side of the AMCATS for the time being. Then, Powers found the back of the net to take the momentum back which he and Ragge built on, scoring two more goals before the end of the period giving them a 9-5 lead going in to the fourth.

The fourth quarter began the way the third ended, with Maritime netting two more goals, a five goal unanswered run. Now 11-5, Perry was able to find the back of the net in a man-up situation to cut the score in half. At this point, there wasn't much the 'Cats could do to get back in to this one as Maritime scored three more before the game was out. Klemba scored a consolation goal with just over a minute remaining in the game but the Bucs left Paxton with the 14-7 victory.

The AMCATS are back on AMCAT Field on Wednesday, March 28^th at 5pm when they will begin conference play against Johnson & Wales.