BUZZARD'S BAY, Mass. - A late comeback from Massachusetts Maritime Academy had UMass Boston Men's Lacrosse on the ropes on Saturday afternoon. Liam Bowler, though, played hero for the Beacons, ricocheting a shot off of the Buccaneers goalkeeper with less than a second remaining to seal the 12-11 victory.

THE BASICS
UMass Boston 12, Mass. Maritime Academy 11

UMass Boston (9-3, 3-0 LEC)
Mass. Maritime (7-5, 3-2 LEC)

HOW IT HAPPENED
Greg Wolff got things started for the Beacons on the offensive end, plucking the rebound off a saved shot and capitalizing to take a 1-0 lead. 

After Mass. Maritime scored a pair to take the lead, Sean Daly went to work, assisting Mic Flynn for the first man-up goal of the afternoon before plowing through the defense on his own to give his squad a 3-2 lead with under two minutes to play. The Buccaneers would beat the first quarter buzzer to send the game into the second quarter tied.

To open up scoring in the second frame, the Beacons got their money's worth on a Maritime penalty. With a flag laying on the turf to signify a delayed penalty, Zach Mann ripped off his first goal of the day to break the tie. Less than 30 seconds later, with that penalty enforced, he took advantage, turning a pass from Wolff into his second score and a 5-3 lead.

As was the trend throughout the first half, the Beacons run was quickly answered by the Buccaneers, who scored two goals of their own to knot the game back up at five.

Luke Murphy got into the book for the first time with just over three minutes to play in the first half, scoring his first goal of the day. He went right back for more when he set up Mann for another extra man goal, sending the Beacons into the half up 7-5.

A Daly goal to open the second half gave the Beacons their largest lead of the game, 8-5. But the score was quickly flipped by a 4-0 Mass. Maritime run. Bowler balanced the scoreboard before the end of the third, using an extra man opportunity to sneak in a goal with 15 seconds on the clock.

Twice Mic Flynn touched the back of the net in the fourth quarter, but twice his heroics were quickly matched by the Buccaneers. With under two minutes to play, the hosts knotted the score at 11-11.

A Mass. Maritime penalty with one minute remaining in the game gave the Beacons some hope to avoid overtime, but shots from Daly, Murphy, Mann, and Patrick Carey did little to test the net. Starting from behind the net with less than a second to play, the Buccaneers defense reasonably expected very little from the Beacons' final possession. Bowler, however, took advantage of the slack, bouncing a shot off of the unsuspecting goalkeeper to score the game-winning goal from an impossible angle.

BY THE NUMBERS

• The Beacons have started 3-0 in conference play in each of the last four seasons
• Saturday marked Mic Flynn's second career hat trick
  • His first came on March 7, 2020 against Maine Maritime in the final game before the 2020 season was canceled due to the COVID pandemic
• The Beacons did not commit a penalty after the first quarter
• Carey caused five turnovers and scooped five ground balls in the victory
• Mann has three hat tricks on the season after recording just one in his previous four years with the program
• The Beacons have won their last seven meetings with the Buccaneers, four of which have been decided by two goals or fewer

WHO'S NEXT
The Beacons will play a much anticipated rematch of the 2023 LEC championship game on Tuesday night when they play host to the Wolves of Western Connecticut State University. The two teams represent the last three conference tournament champions.