THROGGS NECK, N.Y. (3/28/15) – Dominant in every area of the field, the Kean University men's lacrosse team thrashed SUNY Maritime 15-3 in both teams' Skyline Conference opener on Saturday. Matt Speciale scored four times for the Cougars on the cold, snowy afternoon.

The game was fairly tight in the first; Kean scored the first two goals but allowed the Mariners to score twice in 11 seconds to knot the game. But Speciale scored twice more in the period – and already had a hat trick – to put the Cougars ahead 4-2 after one.

From that point, Kean ripped off a total of 11 unanswered scores to put the game away. Maritime was held scoreless for over 45 minutes of gametime by the Cougar defense, led by Tyler Randolph (pictured left), who had two caused turnovers and Mike Criscitello's six ground balls. Maxwell Fields made 11 saves and freshman Tim Corn recorded his first collegiate save in the game.

In addition to Speciale's four goals, Alec Ramos and Anthony Carpenter also had hat tricks for the Cougars. Carpenter finished with four additional assists to match his career high of seven points.

Many Cougars gobbled up ground balls on Saturday. Speciale had five, Fields and Carpenter had four each. Kean totaled 42 in the game.

The men's lacrosse team is now 5-4 on the season and will return home to face the University of Scranton on Wednesday at 7 p.m.