KINGS POINT, N.Y. - Sophomore midfielder Nickolas Santana (New Haven, Conn.) netted his team-leading 16th goal of the season but it wasn't enough as the Western Connecticut State University men's soccer squad was edged at the United States Merchant Marine Academy, 3-2, in a non-conference battle at Bartoszek Field on Thursday evening. With the loss, the Wolves - ranked No. 8 in the latest United Soccer Coaches Region I poll - dropped to 9-5-3 overall while the Mariners improved to 9-3-3.

Things looked good early for the visitors when Santana ignited the scoring with a blast into the twine off a feed from rookie midfielder Matthews Rocha (Danbury, Conn.). However, the hosts struck back with a pair of goals to snag a 2-1 halftime advantage. Patrick Novotny tallied his seventh and eight strikes of the campaign to put USMMA ahead.

First-year forward Jokin Martinez (Jamaica, N.Y.) accepted a pass from junior midfielder Jeffrey Norales (Bronx, N.Y.) and canned his second goal of the year for the Wolves, knotting the count at 2-2 just four minutes into the second stanza. Shortly thereafter, USMMA regained the advantage when Robert Derwin found the back of the net.

The Mariners controlled the majority of the tempo and finished with a 27-14 lead in shots. They also held a slim advantage in corners, 7-6. WestConn rookie Makai Smith (Bridgeport, Conn.) and sophomore Michael Arcuri (Staten Island, N.Y.) split time in between the posts, combining for nine saves, while a pair of USMMA netminders also shared time, turning aside six shots.

The Wolves return to the field when they travel to Rhode Island College for a Little East Conference matchup on Saturday at 1 p.m.