KINGS POINT, NY – For the second year in a row, a big third quarter for the United States Merchant Marine Academy proved to be the deciding factor Wednesday night as the Manhattanville College men's lacrosse team fell to the Mariners 13-7 in non-conference action at Brooks Stadium & Captain James Harvey Tomb Field.
 
Merchant Marine (4-0) tallied five unanswered goals in the third quarter to break open a game tied 5-5 at the half, opening a deficit too deep for Manhattanville (4-1) to overcome.
 
Graduate student Andrew Murray (Yonkers, N.Y./Archbishop Stepinac) had two goals and one assist to lead Manhattanville (4-1), while sophomore T.J. Caccavo (Carlsbad, Calif./San Marcos) added two goals and classmate Gianni Ciffone (Briarcliff Manor, N.Y./Archbishop Stepinac) added a goal and an assist. Defensively, junior Sam Hahn (Briarcliff Manor, N.Y./Briarcliff) led all Valiants with four ground balls.
 
Merchant Marine scored the game's first three goals before Murray scored two in a row, the first off a feed from Ciffone, to get the Valiants back within a goal. After the Mariners tacked on one at the end of the first quarter and beginning of the second quarter, Manhattanville answered with three straight goals, one each from senior Tyler Bentrewicz (Hicksville, N.Y./Hicksville), Caccavo and classmate Will Duval (Granite Bay, Calif./Granite Bay) to tie it before the half. The Mariners won all 12 first half face-offs, while the Valiants were successful on nine of 14 clear attempts.
 
Liam Connors put the Mariners up 6-5 just 66 seconds into the second half off a feed from Nick Treon. Treon, who finished with a game-high seven points, added a goal and an assist later in the third quarter.

Ciffone, off a feed from Murray, and Caccavo book-ended a pair of Merchant Marine goals in the fourth quarter for the final tallies of the game. Sophomore Jason Frezza (Lake Ronkonkoma, N.Y./Portledge) finished with 13 saves for the Valiants.
 
The team continues non-conference play Saturday afternoon against Rosemont, with the opening face-off scheduled for 1:00 p.m.