Throggs Neck, N.Y. – Senior Dylan De Meo (Franklin Square, N.Y.) tied the score in the final minute of regulation and won the contest a minute into overtime on Wednesday as the Mount Saint Mary College Men's Lacrosse team clinched its first ever appearance in the Skyline Conference Championship final with a 14-13 overtime win at Maritime. De Meo finished the night with seven points.
 
Mount Saint Mary broke a 2-2 tie in the first stanza with three straight goals to carry a 5-2 lead into the second period. Tristan Earle (Millrift, Pa.) started the run with Danny Kugler (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) adding a goal and an assist for the Knights.
 
Maritime got back even with the first three goals of the second quarter, but the Knights tallied three of the final four goals of the period to carry a 9-7 lead into the intermission. De Meo assisted on a pair of goals over the closing run with Earle, Kuger and Richard Maher (Mount Sinai, N.Y.) scoring under 90 second apart.
 
Mount Saint Mary took a 21-14 advantage in shots into the intermission, while groundballs in the opening 30 minutes were even at 21-21. The Knights took the edge in face-offs prior to the break 11-7.
 
Coming out of halftime, Maritime erupted for three straight goals to open the period and five of the six goals scored in the stanza. Maritime took its first lead of the game when Matt DeMeo put it in front 10-9 early in the frame and carried a 12-10 lead into the fourth quarter following a Brett Daigle tally.
 
The Privateers opened a 13-10 lead early in the fourth period, before the Knights scored three straight goals to even the score at 13-13. Kugler started the run at the 11:13 mark of the fourth period, with De Meo scoring the final two goals of regulation, including the equalizer with 55 seconds left. Maritime had a shot late, but fired wide.
 
Maritime won the overtime face-off and got off two shots in the opening minute of the extra frame that were answered by Christopher Doerr (Pleasantville, N.Y.). Following a clear, De Meo finished off the win with his 36^th goal of the season.
 
De Meo finished the game with three goals and four assists to lead the team with seven points. He added five groundballs and a caused turnover in the win. Kugler potted five goals and assisted on a sixth, with Earle scoring twice for the Knights.
 
Kenneth Gallagher (Northport, N.Y.) won 19 face-offs for the Knights and scooped 13 groundballs with Earle, Peter Beidl (Clifton Park, N.Y.), Matthew Martino (Watertown, Conn.), Danny Marshall (Oceanside, N.Y.) and Anthony Kearns (Clinton, N.J.) all registering two groundballs.
 
Maritime was led by three goals and five points from Danny Connell with DeMeo finishing with three scores. Mark Buchner led the Privateers with seven groundballs in the game.
 
Doerr picked up the win for the Knights with 11 saves in the game and made 34 stops over two one goal games with Maritime. Brendan McNally stopped 14 shots for the Privateers in the loss.
 
Mount Saint Mary finished the game with a 42-37 advantage in shots, including a 28-24 edge in shots on goal. The Knights posted a 19-12 advantage in face-offs, while Maritime won the groundball battle 38-35. The Knights finished 20-for-23 in clearing chances, with Maritime going 22-for-25.
 
At 12-6 overall on the season, Mount Saint Mary will travel to USMMA on Saturday for a chance to claim its first conference title and berth into the NCAA Tournament.