PURCHASE, N.Y. – Propelled by 13 different scorers, the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy's men's lacrosse team muscled past the Purchase Panthers on Tuesday evening by a score of 18-4. 

The USMMA (8-6, 5-1 Skyline) offense combined for eight unanswered goals in the opening 12 minutes.

With a little more than two minutes remaining in the quarter, Purchase (5-8, 0-6 Skyline) used a goal from Angus Goldman (JR/Palisades, NY) to snap the shutout attempt. The host Mariners however, would sneak one more by Panther rookie Will Boes (FR/Pleasantville, NY) in the final seconds to close the stanza with a 9-1 lead. 

USMMA scored four more in the second quarter before Purchase senior Ben Erkan (Bayside, NY) lit up the visitors' board with an unassisted tally in the 11th minute. Erkan's goal capped the scoring for the first half as Purchase trailed by 11 (13-2) at the break. 

In the third quarter, Erkan and Conor Schwenker (SR/Westhampton Beach, NY) netted back-to-back goals for the visitors. Despite the scoring effort, Purchase was unable to erase the deficit as USMMA tacked on another three goals to finish with the 18-4 Skyline decision.  

Mariner senior Matt Groom and freshman Jack Collins recorded hat-tricks, while sophomore Sam Winkler led all players in the game with four points on two goals and two assists. 
 
Junior starting goalie Samuel Stephenson made six saves in the first half to earn the win, while sophomore Coby Schwartz secured it with a trio of stops.
 
Erkan led the Panthers with a pair of goals. Riley Donovan (SO/Billerica, MD) caused a team-high two turnovers, while also tying the game-high with five ground balls.

Boes recorded 10 saves for Purchase as the loss drops his record to 5-8 overall.

Up Next
Purchase will conclude its 2022 campaign this Friday at 5 p.m. at Farmingdale State.