SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (March 21, 2026) – The U.S. Merchant Marine Academy men's lacrosse team dropped a one-goal decision on the road at Western New England, 10-9, on Saturday afternoon at Golden Bear Stadium. The hosts used a fourth-quarter push to take control before the Mariners mounted a late rally that fell just short in the closing seconds. With the loss, USMMA falls to 3-4 on the season, while the Golden Bears improves to 3-5.
 
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Box Score

Senior William Badeer (Pittsburgh, Pa.) led the Mariners with four points after finding the back of the net four times. Classmate Jack DeTommaso (Massapequa, N.Y.) followed with three points on a goal and two assists, while sophomore Landon Locke (Midlothian, Va.) and freshman Nathan Mangus (Sugar Land, Texas) each contributed two points – Locke with a pair of assists and Mangus with a goal and a helper. Sophomore Ryan Sullivan (Warwick, N.Y.) added two goals on the day, and classmate Dylan Sullivan (Warwick, N.Y.) also recorded a tally.
 
Defensively, senior Michael Valentine IV (Massapequa Park, N.Y.) anchored the effort with five ground balls and a game-high four caused turnovers. Locke also scooped up five GBs, while sophomore Tucker Kuhn (Towson, Md.) took the majority of the face-offs, winning four and collecting two ground balls. In goal, junior Julian Garcia (Lakeway, Texas) was busy, making 11 saves over the 60 minutes of action.
 
USMMA settled in quickly after conceding the opening goal, responding with a 4-0 run in the first quarter to take control. Badeer opened the scoring for the Mariners before Mangus, Badeer again, and Dylan Sullivan all found the back of the net during the surge to build a 4-1 advantage. Western New England answered late in the period with three straight goals, including one in the final seconds, to even the score at 4-4 heading into the second quarter.
 
The second and third quarters featured a grind-it-out stretch as both teams traded possessions and limited scoring opportunities. The Golden Bears briefly took the lead early in the second before Ryan Sullivan scored in the final 30 seconds to send the teams into halftime tied at 5-5. The hosts opened the third with back-to-back goals to go up 7-5, but Sullivan answered again off an assist from Locke to cut the deficit to one heading into the final period.
 
The fourth quarter proved decisive. DeTommaso tied the game at 7-7 with a man-up goal early in the period, but WNEU responded with a 3-0 run over a four-minute stretch to build a 10-7 lead. The Mariners battled back late, as Badeer scored twice in the final three minutes – once off a feed from DeTommaso and again from Locke – to trim the margin to one. USMMA generated multiple chances in the closing seconds, including a shot off the post and another saved, but could not find the equalizer before time expired.
 
Western New England held advantages in shots (46-31), shots on goal (21-16), face-offs (17-5), and ground balls (37-26). The Mariners were efficient on clears, converting 19-of-22 attempts, and capitalized on their lone extra-man opportunity, finishing 1-for-1, while the hosts went 0-for-8 with the man advantage.
 
The Golden Bears were led offensively by Logan Proctor, who recorded three goals, while Josh Gagnon added two tallies. Chris Catuosco controlled the face-off X, winning 14-of-19 draws and collecting a game-high 11 ground balls. David Noel contributed defensively with five caused turnovers and seven ground balls, while goalkeeper Jeffrey Wojtowicz made seven saves to earn the win.
 
The Mariners return to action on Tuesday night, March 24, when they play host to arch-rival Coast Guard beginning at 7 p.m. at Brooks Stadium.
 
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