Merchant Marine - 12, Farmingdale State - 8
KINGS POINT, N.Y. | The Farmingdale State College men's lacrosse team opened Skyline Conference play on Thursday evening with a 12-8 loss to Merchant Marine in a rematch of last season's Skyline Conference Championship. Farmingdale State fell to 7-3 overall and 0-1 in conference play, while the Mariners improved to 6-4 overall and 2-0 in the Skyline.
USMMA jumped out to an early lead, scoring four goals in the opening quarter to take a 4-0 advantage. They added five more goals in the second quarter to take a 9-1 lead into the break.
Merchant Marine extended its advantage to 10-1 early in the third quarter before the Rams began to chip away. Junior attack Joey Forchelli (Seaford, N.Y.)Â netted his second goal of the game at the 10:02 mark, followed by a goal from senior defenseman William Henry (West Islip, N.Y.) just under a minute later. Senior midfielder Casey Fortunato (Northport, N.Y.) added a pair of goals late in the quarter as Farmingdale State scored closed the gap to 12-5 heading into the fourth.
Senior midfielder Tommy Mai (Islip, N.Y.) converted on an extra-man opportunity with 11:17 remaining in the fourth off a feed from senior midfielder Connor Murtha (Moriches, N.Y.). Classmate Amir Slaughter (North Babylon, N.Y.) then scored twice as Farmingdale State held the Mariners scoreless in the fourth quarter but fell 12-8.
Fortunato, Forchelli, and Slaughter each scored twice in the loss, while Mai and Henry each added a goal.
Defensively, junior long stick midfielder Sean Lawson (Mattituck, N.Y.) led Farmingdale State with six ground balls and three caused turnovers. Sophomore Matt Durnin (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) also forced three turnovers, while sophomore defenseman Logan Reese (West Islip, N.Y.) picked up three ground balls.
In goal, junior Connor Dobson (Islip, N.Y.) made 11 saves for the Rams.
The men's lacrosse team returns to action on Wednesday, April 8th, when they host Purchase College at 4:00 p.m.
