The Maritime football team lost to Alfred University, 60-0, Saturday afternoon at the Saxons’ Merrill Field in the opening round of the 2010 NCAA DIII Football Tournament. The loss ends the Privateers memorable 2010 season, in which the team recorded a perfect 10-0 regular season and captured the ECFC Championship with a 7-0 mark in conference action. Alfred will move on to play Cortland State in the second round next weekend.
The Saxons captured the momentum early in the game, forcing a fumble deep in Maritime’s end on the opening kickoff. Taking over on the 19-yard line, Alfred scored five plays later on a passing play from QB Tom Secky to senior wide receiver Ryan Thon to take a 7-0 lead just 2:15 into the game. The host team scored on four of their first five possessions and extended the lead to 29-0 by the end of the first quarter.
The Maritime offense struggled in the early stages of the game, forcing the defense to get on the field more often. The second quarter saw the Saxons add on three more touchdowns. Thon registered four receiving touchdowns in the opening half of play and Alfred went into the locker room with a 50-0 lead. Turnovers hurt the Privateers, as they gave up the ball four times in the first half. The squad was unable to take advantage of its only turnover game, a fumble recovery in the first half by junior Rob Gorgy-DL (Hillsborough, N.J./Immaculata).
The Privateers kept the Saxons off the board in the third quarter. Alfred would connect on a 33-yard field goal by kicker Steve Kijowski early in the fourth quarter and ended the scoring on an interception returned 64 yards for a touchdown with 9:22 remaining in the game
For Maritime, junior fullback Jamie Spanopoulos (Franklin Square, N.Y./H. Frank Carey) led offense with 30 yards rushing, while senior Greg McGough-FB (Edgewater, Md./Blessed Trinity)registered 28 yards on the ground.
On defense, sophomore linebacker Pat Lasher (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) recorded a game-high 12 tackles (two solo and eight assisted), while classmate Keith Barnes-LB(Westbury, N.Y./Westbury)had nine tackles (one solo and eight assisted), including 1.5 for combined losses of 13 yards. Sophomore defensive end Thomas Boney (Jacksonville, Fla./University Christian) recorded a sack a loss of 13 yards for the Privateers.
Courtesy of Maritime Athletics
November 14, 2010
Maritime Selected to NCAA Tournament; Will Travel to Alfred in First Round
NCAA Tournament Central | Full Bracket (PDF)
The Maritime football team was selected to compete in the 2010 NCAA Division III Football Tournament, announced Sunday afternoon on ESPNews. The Privateers, who earned an at-large bid to the national tournament, will travel to Alfred University next Saturday, Nov. 20, for a 12 p.m. noon kickoff in their opening round matchup.
The 2010 Eastern Collegiate Football Conference Champion Maritime team enters the NCAA Tournament, the first in program history, with a perfect 10-0 record (7-0 ECFC) and is the No. 3 seed in the East Region bracket. The Privateers were picked out of Pool B, which has three at-large selections from true independent institutions and conferences that have not yet earned automatic bids.
The Saxons enter the tournament with an 8-2 overall record and are the No. 6 seed in the East. Alfred is making its second-straight appearance in the tournament out of the Empire 8 after clinching the conference’s automatic bid by running the table with a perfect 5-0 mark in league contests.
Maritime and Alfred have never met before and do not share a common opponent from the 2010 season.
Mount Union is the top-seeded team in the East Region and will host No. 8-seed St. Lawrence in the first round. Other East Region pairings include No. 2-seed Cortland State at home against No. 7-seed Endicott, and fourth-seeded Delaware Valley hosting fifth-seeded Salisbury. Kickoff for all games is at noon.
The winner between the Privateers and the Saxons will move on to face the winner of the Cortland State-Endicott contest on Saturday, Nov. 27. Game locations will be determined by the NCAA.