NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The Norwich University men's lacrosse team built a 6-0 lead at the half, finishing Wednesday's contest with a decisive 12-3 victory over the Mariners from the Maine Maritime Academy. 

The Cadets improve to 3-5 on the season while the Mariners remain in search of their season's first victory. Norwich moves to 8-3 all-time against Maine Maritime, winning the last four meetings between both programs. 

Junior Josh Jenkins (Centennial, Colo.) led the Cadets with four points, scoring two goals and as many assists. Sophomore Aidan Moulton (Danvers, Mass.) chipped in with two goals while eight-different goal scorers for Norwich rounded out the day's offensive efforts. 

Junior Michael Cashman (East Kingston, N.H.) opened the scoring with 8:29 to go in the first stanza and was followed by senior Joe Wood (White River Junction, Vt.) less than two minutes later. Moulton potted the game's next two goals before Jenkins cashed in with a man-advantage marker near the midpoint of the second. 

Freshman Russell Gilligan (Fountain Hills, Ariz.) struck for Norwich before the half and Jenkins continued the Norwich stretch of goal scoring to seven-straight, putting home a feed from sophomore Connor Loughran (Stowe, Vt.) only 2:29 into the second half. The Cadets answered an unassisted goal from MMA's Dean Samuelson with two-straight strikes, building a 9-1 advantage with 4:23 left in the third quarter. 

Ahead by a 9-2 margin heading into the fourth quarter, freshman Jack Anzalone (Ridgewood, N.J.), senior Connor McMahon (Norwich, Conn.) and junior Nolan Aurelia (Stratford, Conn.) built the Cadets lead to 12-2 before a late goal by Maine Maritime completed the day's scoring. 

Freshman Brandon Milburn (Bridgewater, N.J.) earned his first collegiate win, making six saves on eight shots in his first-ever appearance. Junior Sam Mattson (Essex, Vt.) also made his collegiate debut, making one save in just under 10 minutes of action. Maine Maritime's Daniel Lee halted 13-of-25 shots that he faced, drawing the loss. 

The Cadets fired 47 shots in the game, limiting the visitors to only 17 attempts. Norwich also won the ground ball battle, picking up 50 of the game's 79 loose balls. Four-separate players won at least one faceoff for the Cadets, whom won 13 of the game's 19 battles at the "X". 

The Cadets open Great Northeast Athletic Play this Saturday, Apr. 1, hosting Emmanuel (Mass.) College in a 1 p.m. showdown at Sabine Field.