Bangor, ME - The Husson University men's lacrosse team returned home after playing a pair in Massachusetts over spring break, and walked away triumphant after beating the Buccaneers of Massachusetts Maritime Academy 14-5 at Boucher Field. With the win, the Eagles improve to 3-2 on the year, while Mass Maritime falls to 1-1. 

Husson was led by Nick Brown (Ft. Worth, TX) who picked up an impressive eight points, scoring four goals while assisting on four more. Attackman Ben Landry (Lewiston, ME) picked up five goals on the day, his high for the season thus far. Nolan Brown (Waterford, CT) and Ben Potter (Chula Vista, CA) both started at the attack position due to injury and each recorded three points, with Nolan Brown scoring a hat-trick while Potter netted two and assisted another. Senior goalie John Hooper III (Wakefield, RI) earned the victory - his second of the year - saving 10 in the win. 

As a team, Husson took 48 shots compared to 26 by their opponents, and also won the ground ball battle, picking up 39 to 29 by MMA. The Eagles were effective on their clears, successfully clearing 17-19 attempts, while holding their opponents to 14-21 on the day. Husson converted on 75% of their extra man opportunites, while holding their opponents scoreless with a man down (0-5). 

For the Buccaneers, senior midfielder Will Doucette (Manchester, MA) had a solid game, scoring a hat-trick - his second multi-goal game in consecutive days - while winning 8-11 faceoffs. Adam Palilonis (Highstown, NJ) chipped in with a pair of helpers, while Dylan Freudenberg (Islip, NY) and Peter Menard (Somerset, MA) had the other two tallies for Mass Maritime. Goalie Paul Painten (Walpole, MA) received his first loss of the year while saving 14 of the 28 shots he saw. 

Husson got things started just over a minute into the game when Brown got the Eagles on the board with an unassisted tally at 13:58 left in the first. After both teams settled in, Doucette evened things up with an unassisted marker of his own, and the game was tied 1-1 with 6:54 remaining in the quarter. 

As the clock neared the five minute mark, senior LSM Mike Craig (Kennebunk, ME) caused a turnover with a nasty stick-check, scooped up the ground ball, cleared the zone and fed Landry to give the Eagles a lead that they would never surrender. Landry followed that up with another score with 3:11 to play in the first, giving Husson a 3-1 lead going into the second.

Doucette would win the faceoff to begin the quarter and after the Bucs set up their offense, Palilonis fed it back to Doucette for his second goal of the game at 14:24, cutting the Husson lead to 3-2. Landry added another unassisted tally a few minutes later to complete an early hat trick, and bring the Eagles' lead back to two. One minute later, Husson got some Brown-to-Brown offense as Nick found Nolan to make it a 5-2 Eagle lead.  

After a Husson penalty, back-to-back penalties by the Buccaneers gave the Eagles a man-up opportunity at 10:12, and they wasted little time, netting an extra-man goal as Chris Pelletier (Rome, ME) found Brown for the score. Another extra man opportunity resulted in another goal at the six minute mark as midfielder Alex Ryan (Northfield, NH) fed Landry for the strike to put Husson up 7-2. Doucette would add his final unassisted score with 3:13 remaining to bring Mass Maritime to within four, but as Husson earned yet another man-up opportunity (their fourth of the second quarter) Nick Brown found Potter who ripped a low shot for the score at 1:19 left in the half, and the Eagles went to the break leading 8-3. 

The second half started in a similar fashion when Nick Brown dished to Potter who pumped another one in the net at 13:39 remaining in the third. Less than a minute later, the Eagles caused a turnover in the own end and broke in transition as defenseman Matt Catalano (North Attleboro, MA) assisted Nolan Brown for his second, and the Husson lead was now 10-3. The seven goal margin was short lived however, as the Eagles won the faceoff but turned the ball over quickly, leading to an opportunity in transition and Freudenberg got the unassisted score making it 10-4 in favor of Husson. 

When Husson got another chance with the extra man they were successful again as Ryan found Nick Brown for the score to bring their lead back to 7. About five minutes later Palilonis got his second helper of the day, feeding Menard to make it 11-5 in favor of the Eagles with 5:33 left in the third. Husson would answer with about a minute to play in the period when Potter got the ball down low, and passed to Nolan Brown for the lefty quick-stick and it was 12-5 Eagles going into the final quarter. 

Despite their best efforts, Mass Maritime wouldn't score again in the game, and Husson added two more in a period that was dominated by penalties. The teams combined for 5 minutes of penalties in the fourth period, however neither side took advantage of the extra man opportunites. With 5:20 left to play, Nick Brown assisted Landry for his fifth and final tally. Nick Brown wasn't finished however as he'd add a late goal off a Pelletier assist to make it 14-5, and the score would go final. 

The Eagles will return to action on St. Patrick's Day, hosting Mt. St. Mary (NY) at 1:00 pm on Saturday, March 17th. They'll turn around and play another one on Sunday when they take on Norwich at 12:00 pm with both games being played at Boucher Field. Massachusetts Maritime will return home to Buzzard's Bay, MA for their home-opener at 7:00 pm on Wednesday, March 14th when they host Wentworth.