Wesleyan pulled away from the visiting Merchant Marine Academy with a four-goal burst during a span of 3:49 in the first period and extended the lead to 7-1 at halftime. Only two goals were scored during the second half, one by each team, for an 8-2 final. After using a 13-4 edge in shots during the opening 15 minutes to secure its 5-1 lead, Wesleyan was outshot by the Mariners 31-10 over the final 45 minutes. A majority of the USMMA shots missed the mark but of the ones on the cage, 14 were stopped by Cardinal junior goalie Mike Borrero, 13 in the last three periods. He now has an outstanding 69.6 save percentage and 4.36 goals-against average through five games.

Wesleyan faceoff man senior Bobby Goulding was nearly perfect in the contest, winning 13 of 14 faceoffs and picking up a team-leading five ground balls. Offensively, Wesleyan got a pair of goals each from juniors Jason Ben-Eliyahu and Adam Kirk while sophomore Jon Killeen registered three points on a goal and two assists. Kirk gave the Cardinals the lead for good at 6:53 of the opening stanza off a Killeen feed, initiating a 7-0 outbreak that ended at the 8:55 mark of the third quarter when Russ Follansbee picked up his team-leading 11th goal of the season off a run from behind the net, making the count 8-1. USMMA ended the night's scoring on junior Robert DePol's 12th goal of the year with 17 ticks left on the third period clock. He also assisted on the Mariners' first goal by senior Ryan Merritt at 7:16 of the first period.

Score by Period       1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Merchant Marine Acad  1  0  1  0 -  2
Wesleyan University.  5  2  1  0 -  8
 
Attendance: 100
 
Merchant Marine Acad SCORING:
GOALS: Robert De Pol 1; Ryan Merritt 1.
ASSISTS: Robert De Pol 1; Zachary Gray 1.
 
Wesleyan University SCORING:
GOALS: Jason Ben-Eliyahu 2; Adam Kirk 2; Jon Killeen 1; Russ Follansbee 1;
       Alex Kaufman 1; John Olbeter 1.
ASSISTS: Jon Killeen 2; Lonny Blumenthal 1; Jeff Strittmatter 1.
 
SHOTS BY PERIOD       1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Merchant Marine Acad  4  8 15  8 - 35
Wesleyan University. 13  5  2  3 - 23
 
GROUND BALLS BY PRD   1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Merchant Marine Acad  6  9  4  8 - 27
Wesleyan University.  7 11  6  8 - 32
 
FACE-OFFS BY PRD       1     2     3     4     Total
----------------------------------------------------
Merchant Marine Acad  0-7   0-3   1-3   0-1  -  1-14
Wesleyan University.  7-7   3-3   2-3   1-1  - 13-14
 
CLEARS BY PERIOD       1     2     3     4     Total
----------------------------------------------------
Merchant Marine Acad  4-5   4-5   6-6   5-6  - 19-22
Wesleyan University.  4-6   6-10  4-6   6-6  - 20-28
 
EXTRA-MAN OPPS         1     2     3     4     Total
----------------------------------------------------
Merchant Marine Acad  0-0   0-0   0-1   0-1  -  0-2
Wesleyan University.  0-1   1-1   0-0   0-2  -  1-4
 
SAVES BY PERIOD       1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Merchant Marine Acad  4  2  1  3 - 10
Wesleyan University.  1  5  5  3 - 14
 
PENALTIES - Merchant Marine Acad 4/2:30; Wesleyan University 2/1:00.

2008-03-26