CASTINE, Maine -- Senior Nate Prince (West Gardiner, Maine) scored a game-high five goals as the University of Southern Maine Huskies defeated the Maine Maritime Academy Mariners 13-6 in a non-conference men's lacrosse match Saturday afternoon at Ritchie Field.

            The win was the second for the Huskies (2-1) since dropping their season opener.  The Mariners (0-2), playing their home opener, remained winless dropping their second straight game.

            Prince helped the Huskies get off to a fast start netting two of his five goals in the opening 4:03.  Junior Mark White (Oakville, Ontario) scored between Prince's two goals to give the visiting side a 3-0 lead before the game was even five minutes old.  Prince added a goal in the second period, and two more in the final quarter when the Huskies put the game away.

            Junior Ryan Foley (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) added two goals and three assists for a five-point day.  Senior Willie Joy (Portland, Maine/Deering) had three goals and one assist while White finished with one goal and three assists.  Junior goalie Kyle Dussault (Lewiston, Maine) had a fine game in the cage making 15 saves.  Junior long-stick midfielder Jim Soules (Scarborough, Maine) scooped up a game-high 14 ground balls.

            For the Mariners, senior Andrew DiSalvo (Glastonbury, Conn./Xavier) led the way with two goals and one assist.  Classmate Brian Corain (Berwick, Maine/St. Thomas Aquinas) added one goal and two assists.  Senior goalie Erik Milles (Bangor, Maine) played 59 minutes and registered six saves.

            After Prince and White staked the Huskies to the early lead, the game settled into a defensive struggle for most the first quarter.  The Mariners finally broke through with 1:07 left in the quarter when rookie Nicholas Betti (Upper Saddle River, N.J./Tabor Academy) converted a pass from Corain.

            Two minutes into the second period, junior Tom Houle (Manchester, N.H./Kents Hill) pulled the Mariners within one.  Joy responded a minute later, and Prince gave the Huskies a 5-2 lead at the 7:49 mark.  That is the way the half would end as Dussault and Milles prevented further scoring.

            The Mariners pulled within two (6-4) in the third quarter as junior Alex Hermes (Fallsington, Penn./Pennsbury) and Corain sandwiched a goal by USM junior Mike Orlando (Hanover, Mass.).  Joy and Foley (two goals) gave USM a run of three straight goals to close the quarter leading 9-4.

            DiSalvo made things interesting scoring twice before six minutes were gone in the final quarter to close the gap to 9-6.  Dussault would slam the door shut on any further MMA scoring, and Prince ignited a run of four unanswered USM goals, including the final three in a span of 1:06, to put the game away.

            Southern Maine returns home on March 25 (1:00 p.m.) to host Husson University.  Maine Maritime travels to Clark College on Wednesday (7:00 p.m.).

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