By: Massachusetts Maritime Academy Athletics

BUZZARDS BAY, Mass -- The Buccaneers hosted UMass Boston in the Little East Conference Semifinals on Thursday night at Clean Harbors Stadium. The #2 seed Bucs were victorious over the #3 Beacons in the regular season 16-15 in overtime, beating UMB for the first time since 2009. On Thursday, Maritime extended the margin of victory, punching their ticket to the LEC Championship game on Saturday, 15-10.

The Basics

Final: Buccaneers 15, Beacons 10
Records: Maritime 14-2, UMass Boston 11-8

Between The Pipes

Maritime Nicholas Hall (W, 12-1): 10 GA | 15 SV | 25 SOG | 60 Mins
UMass Boston: James Boldy (L, 11-8): 15 GA | 22 SV | 37 SOG | 60 Mins

Inside The Numbers

Maritime

• Quinn Mucha and Ryan McDonough scored four goals apiece in the win. Jayson Kelleher scored two goals, and Chilton Cabot, Daniel Kane, James Sullivan, Camden Stern, and Seamus Buckley all scored once.
• Cabot and Kane recorded three assists each. Mucha had two helpers, and Sullivan, Nicholas Hall, Aiden Bengtson, and McDonough all had one assist.
• Cooper Barrett collected a team-high six ground balls. 
• On the face off, Cole Jenkins won 11 of the 21 faceoffs that he took. 
• Defensively, Will Dykeman caused a game-high three turnovers.
• In total, Maritime collected 32 ground balls, was successful on 22 of 28 clearances, won 15 of 28 faceoffs, and took 60 shots in the game.

UMass Boston

• Cole Allan and Jack Shartner scored a team-high three goals each. Matthew Konareski scored twice, and Reilly Collins and Jackson King scored once.
• Tyler Hilgert tallied three assists in the loss, and Allan added one.
• Max White picked up six ground balls to lead the Beacs, and he won 12 of the 18 faceoffs he took.
• Defensively, seven different UMB players caused one turnover each.
• In total, UMass Boston picked up 28 ground balls, was successful on 27 of 31 clearances, won 13 of 28 faceoffs, and took 49 shots in the game.

How It Happened

The Beacons opened the scoring at 10:32 of the first quarter and went on to score three unanswered to begin the semifinal game. Down 3-0, the Bucs got goals from Buckley and McDnough within a minute of each other near the end of the quarter. The Beacons led, 3-2, at the end of one.

In the second quarter, the Buccaneers' defense went above and beyond the call of duty and kept the Beacons off the board throughout the entire quarter. Maritime, however, scored five times with goals from Kelleher, McDonough, Stern, Kane, and Cabot to take a 7-3 lead going to the halftime break. 

In the third, the Bucs extended their scoring streak to nine goals with goals from Mucha and Sullivan at 11:52 and 9:32 of the third quarter, extending the lead to six goals, 9-3. At the 8:52 mark of the third, Konareski scored for the Beacons, ending a 26-minute and 31-second scoring drought going back to the first quarter, to make the score 9-4. Maritime followed that goal with a Mucha goal off the faceoff at 8:44, and another quick goal from Kelleher to extend the lead to seven goals, 11-4. Schartner scored at 7:39 off the ensuing faceoff following the Kelleher goal to make the score 11-5. McDonough scored another for the Bucs to bring the score to 12-5. In the final 1:59 of the third, Allan, Collins, and Konareski all scored for the Beacons to close the gap to four goals, 12-8, heading to the final quarter of regulation. 

Maritime scored first in the fourth on McDonough's fourth of the game. Then, the teams traded goals twice. King scored for the Beacons, Mucha scored for the Bucs, Allan scored for UMB, and Mucha scored again for the hosts with just under four minutes to play. The Buccaneer defense did its job again, holding off a comeback by the Beacs, and Maritime secured the 15-10 victory to punch its ticket to the LEC Championship game!

What's Next

The Buccaneers will travel to Western Connecticut State on Saturday, May 2nd, to take on the top-seeded Wolves in the LEC Championship game at 3:30 pm.