Merchant Marine 17, Ohio Wesleyan 13

March 15, 2008

Sophomore midfielder Rob Young (Langhorne, Pa./Council Rock South) opened the second half with a pair of goals as Ohio Wesleyan turned a 10-9 halftime deficit into an 11-10 lead, but Merchant Marine countered with a 5-0 run and went on to defeat Ohio Wesleyan in non-conference play on Saturday in Kings Point, N.Y.

The Mariners opened the game with a 4-0 run, with Ryan Merritt scoring twice and Robert De Pol adding a goal and an assist, but Ohio Wesleyan stormed back with 3 straight scores, getting a pair of goals from senior midfielder Steve Fowler (Wilton, Conn.) and a score from Young to pull within 4-3 with 8:16 left in the first quarter.

The teams traded goals twice during the first period, then Fowler's man-up goal less than a minute into the second quarter evened the game at 6-6.

Merchant Marine answered with a score by Brian Flannery, only to see Ohio Wesleyan bounce back with a goal by senior midfielder Trevor Jones (Flanders, N.J./West Morris Mendham). This scenario repeated twice more during the second quarter, with Flannery scoring to give the Mariners a one-goal lead only to see the Bishops even the game with a goal by sophomore attacker Chris Ehlinger (Radnor, Pa.).

Robert Atkinson's goal with :01 left in the half gave the Mariners a 10-9 lead, but Young's third-quarter rampage gave the Bishops their first lead of the game at 11-10 with 9:21 left in the period.

Flannery kicked off the Mariner run with a goal at the 5:14 mark of the third quarter, and Merritt and Atkinson added scores to give Merchant Marine a 13-11 lead going into the final period. Brett Daniels and Merritt posted goals that increased the Mariner lead to 15-11 with 8:57 left in regulation time.

The Bishops halved the deficit in the blink of an eye, with Young scoring just 8 seconds later and sophomore midfielder Craig Aronoff (Potomac, Md./The Bullis School) notching an unassisted goal only 13 seconds after that to make it 15-13 with more than half the period remaining, but that was as close as the Bishops would come.

Young led the Bishops with 4 goals, while Fowler finished with 3 goals. Senior attacker Harrison Iuliano (Mendham, N.J./Blair Academy) added a goal and 3 assists.

Senior Ryan Perone (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield Prep) stopped 1 shot in 30 minutes in the Ohio Wesleyan goal, and freshman Jud Hall (Columbus/Upper Arlington) played the second and third quarters and finished with 6 saves.

Flannery led the Mariners with 4 goals and an assist, while Merritt scored 4 goals and Atkinson contributed 3 goals and 2 assists. Robert Boyd and Keegan Boyle combined for 13 saves in the Mariner goal.

Box Score