DANBURY, Conn -- The Buccaneers traveled to Western Connecticut on Sunday to take on the Wolves in the first Little East Conference game of the season for both teams. The Buccaneers' defense was strong against a high-powered Wolves offense and allowed only 11 goals, though they could only muster nine on offense and lost the conference opener, 11-9.

The Basics

Final: Wolves 11, Buccaneers 9

Records: Maritime 4-2 (0-1)

               WestConn 6-3 (1-0)

Between The Pipes

Maritime: Nicholas Hall (L, 3-1): 11 GA | 11 SV | 22 SOG | 60 Mins

WestConn: Jake Kelly (W, 5-3): 9 GA | 8 SV | 17 SOG | 60 Mins

Inside the Numbers

Mairtime

• Chilton Cabot, Quinn Mucha, and Camden Stern each scored twice in the loss. Daniel Kane, Joe Vricella, and Ryan McDonough all scored once. 
• Kane, James Sullivan, Cooper McIntire, Stern, and McDonough all had an assist.
• Cole Jenkins led all players in the game with 10 ground balls.
• On the faceoff, Jenkins won 17 of 22 faceoffs in the loss. 
• Defensively, Andy Aguado-Scheyer and Cooper Barrett both caused two turnovers. 
• In total, Maritime picked up 29 ground balls, was successful on 13 of 15 clearances, won 17 of 23 faceoffs, and took 29 total shots.

WestConn

• Cody Suhr scored three times to lead all players. Joseph D'Orazio, Tristan McMahon, and Thomas Keegan all scored twice. James Krieg and Alex Burbank scored once in the win.
• McMahon led all players with three assists in the game. Keegan recorded two helpers in the game. Four other Wolves each recorded one assist.
• James Gitzinger picked up a team-high seven ground balls. 
• On the faceoff, Chase Canfora won five of the 20 faceoffs he took.
• Defensively, McMahon led the Wolves with three caused turnovers. 
• In total, WestConn picked up 34 ground balls, was successful on 19 of 20 clearances, won six of 23 faceoffs, and took 45 shots in the game.

How It Happened

It took nearly eight minutes for either team to get on the board, and the first goal came from the Wolves and Keegan. Maritime tied the game less than a minute later on a Stern goal. In the last four and a half minutes of the first, Suhr and D'Orazio scored for WestConn, and the Wolves led 3-1 after the first quarter.

In the second, Maritime scored first less than a minute in to cut the deficit to one goal, 3-2. WestConn then scored two in a row to take a 5-2 lead. Mucha added a goal at 9:13 to make it a 5-3 game. WestConn scored a pair in a row at 6:33 and 32 seconds. Vricella closed out the scoring in the first half, and the Wolves took a 7-4 lead into the break.

Maritime cut the deficit to one goal, 7-6, in the first four minutes of the third, getting goals from Stern and Cabot within 14 seconds of each other. WestConn got one of those goals back at 9:33 to go up 8-6. Kane took it back at 6:47 to make the score 8-7. WestConn then scored two goals within 15 seconds, both from Suhr, to extend their lead back to three goals, 10-7, at the end of the third. 

In the fourth, the Buccaneers made a charge and even outscored the Wolves, 2-1, but it wouldn't be enough as the Wolves earned an 11-9 victory in the conference opener. 

What's Next

The Bucas have a quick turnaround and will travel to Clark University on Tuesday to take on the Cougars at 7 pm in non-conference play.