PURCHASE, N.Y. – Senior attacker Geoff Harty scored a hat trick and assisted on two more goals, propelling the Mariners of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy to a 7-6 victory over the Manhattanville College men's lacrosse team on Wednesday evening. Sophomore Connor Normandin (Stratford, Conn./Bunnell) led the Valiants offensively, netting two goals and adding an assist.
 
It took only 17 seconds for someone to score the first goal of the game when Harty took the ball off the opening faceoff and fed Pat Coll, who buried the ball into the back of the net. Normandin sniped his first goal of the game at the 12:01 mark to tie things up at one.
 
The Valiants would take a 2-1 lead at the 13:53 mark of the second quarter when sophomore Andrew Murray (Yonkers, N.Y./Archbishop Stepinac) scored his 12th goal of the season, extending his scoring streak to five straight games. Harty would add his second assist of the night when he found Tucker Dodson on a man-up opportunity, tying the game at two.
 
Harty scored the next two goals of the game, one coming on another man-up opportunity, giving the Mariners a 4-2 lead before freshman Ryan Sweeney extended the lead to three goals heading into halftime.
 
After some back-and-forth play in the third quarter, sophomore Colin Morrissey (Shelton, Conn./St. Joseph) recorded his sixth goal of the season to cut the deficit to 5-3.  Harty answered back with 53 seconds remaining in the third, completing his hat trick.
 
Normandin brought the deficit back to two goals when he picked up his second goal of the game with 11:29 remaining; however, Merchant Marine sophomore Chris Whitenack scored his third goal of the season just 21 seconds later, giving the Mariners a 7-4 lead.
 
The Valiants made a late push at the end of the game, scoring two goals just 37 seconds apart. Freshman Christian Flores (Avon, Conn./Avon) scored off an assist from Normandin with 2:07 remaining and Murray added his second of the game with 1:29 left to give the Valiants some life. 
 
Unfortunately the Valiants weren't able to get another shot at tying the score, as Chris Whitenack won the subsequent faceoff and the Mariners successfully played keep away for the final minute. Whitenack was excellent on draws for USMMA, winning 13 of 16 faceoffs and corralling 13 ground balls.

Valiant sophomore Zach Hoffman (Loudonville, N.Y./LaSalle Institute) was solid in goal for the Valiants, recording 14 saves on 21 shots, while senior goalkeeper Alex Peyreigne recorded eight saves on 14 shots for Merchant Marine.
 
The Valiants' four-game homestand continues when the Mount Saint Vincent Dolphins visit GoValiants.com Field on Monday evening. Faceoff is set for 7:00 p.m.