Newburgh, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College Men's Lacrosse team saw its eight game winning streak come to an end on Saturday afternoon, falling 18-9 to visiting USMMA in a battle of teams sporting unbeaten conference records entering play. Seniors Nicholas Graziano (Franklin Square, N.Y.) and Danny Kugler (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) each scored three times and classmate Dylan De Meo (Franklin Square, N.Y.) assisting on four goals on Senior Day.
 
The Knights opened the scoring just over a minute into the game on Graziano's first of the contest, but following a Richard Maher (Mount Sinai, N.Y.) goal that gave the Knights a 2-1 lead, the visitors scored the next two goals and six of the next seven to pull in front for good in the game.
 
Nick Roros capped a four goal run for the Mariners that pushed them in front 7-3 and Jack Renard scored three times in the final seven minutes of the first half to send the visitors into the intermission with a 10-5 advantage.
 
USMMA held a 32-20 advantage in shots over the opening 30 minutes and a 23-16 edge in groundballs. The Mariners controlled face-offs prior to halftime, winning 13 of the 17 contested.
 
Coming out of the intermission, Anthony Kearns (Clinton, N.J.) brought the Knights to within four goals with his 10^th tally of the season, but the Mount would not be able to pull any closer the rest of the afternoon. The Mount was held to just four second half goals and a four goal run to end the third and begin the fourth for the Mariners pushed them in front 17-8 with 7:31 left to play.
 
Graziano added three groundballs to his scoring output on Saturday, while Kugler moved his career and single season record goal total to 54, adding a pair of groundballs on the day. De Meo finished off the day with two groundballs and two caused turnovers to his team-high assist total.
 
Sophomore Ryan Maraio (Staten Island, N.Y.) closed the day with a goal and an assist with senior Gregory Ruocco (Staten Island, N.Y.) picking up a team-high groundball and adding a caused turnover.
 
Renard paced the Mariners with eight points, including five goals, with Nick Treon chipping in with five goals and a pair of helpers. Kyle Busher had a big day, picking up 19 groundballs and going 24-for-29 at the face-off 'x'.
 
Senior Christopher Doerr (Pleasantville, N.Y.) suffered the loss in goal, making nine save in just under 25 minutes of work. Sophomore Eli Laikin (Oak Bluffs, Mass.) played the final 25:17, making seven stops for the Knights. Brendan Kane earned the win in goal for the Mariners with seven stops.
 
Overall, USMMA finished the game with the edge in shots 59-32, shots on goal 34-16 and groundballs 47-30. The Mariners dominated face-offs 26-5, with the both team scoring twice with the man advantage. Mount Saint Mary finished the day 19-for-21 in clearing chances.
 
Saturday's loss drops Mount Saint Mary to 11-5 overall and 4-1 in Skyline Conference play. The Knights close out the regular season next Saturday when they travel to Maritime for a 1:00 p.m. face-off with the Privateers.
 
Game Notes: Prior to face-off on Saturday, the Knights recognized the 11 members of their senior class: Tristan Earle, Graziano, Nicholas Boffoli, Doerr, Michal Romanik, De Meo, Anthony Perrone, Kugler, Ruocco, Kennth Gallagher and Christian Hildebrand.