Bobcats Men’s Lacrosse Sneaks Past Elizabethtown

After dominating Marymount 16-3, Frostburg (6-6) faced non-conference opponent Elizabethtown (4-6). It wasn’t an easy one, but the Bobcats were able to pull through thanks to two late goals. Frostburg ended up winning 10-8 on a cold and snowy Wednesday night at Bobcat Stadium.

FSU senior midfielder Quinn Western scored an unassisted goal 56 seconds into the contest. Then, the Blue Jays stepped up as Mike Scrafano put up two goals for the 2-1 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Early in the second quarter, Mike DiGenova added onto Elizabethtown’s lead with a tally, extending the lead to 3-1. However, the Bobcats didn’t stop there. Four consecutive goals were scored by senior captain Adam Gross, senior attackman Nate Collins, senior captain Keegan Colegrove, and Collins again on the man up opportunity, which put Frostburg up 5-3 at halftime.

The second half was when things went back-and-forth. After goals scored by Elizabethtown’s Ben Hiltebitel and FSU senior attackman Jimmy Lucas, Scrafano added two more goals to his performance to tie the game at 6-6.

The score became 8-8 with 5:41 remaining after two more goals from both teams. With 3:31 to go, Colegrove found sophomore attackman Paul Ruppert for the go-ahead goal to make it 9-8. Then, on the ensuing faceoff, junior long stick midfielder Nick Mattis scooped up the ball, raced towards the net, and fired a low shot into the net for the 10-8 win.

“At halftime, we challenged our midfielders off of the wings to work harder for our faceoff specialists because we felt like their wings were outplaying ours in the first half,” said FSU Head Coach Tommy Pearce. “Nick’s ground ball and goal was a great response and a very timely goal to give us a two goal advantage late.”

With the win, the Bobcats were 13-of-22 at the X and collected 30 ground balls. The Frostburg defense also caused nine of the Blue Jays’ 16 turnovers.

Ruppert and Gross led Frostburg with two goals and one assist each, while Collins finished the night with two scores.
In net, sophomore keeper Jack Marks posted seven saves.

On the other side of things, Scrafano led Elizabethtown with four goals.

“We had trouble winning faceoffs and clearing early so we were happy to have the lead at halftime,” Pearce said. “I think the game wouldn’t have been so close if we’d been able to limit our turnovers and not make our defense have to defend as many possessions as they did. It’s always good to come away with a win, but I think we could have played better.”

Frostburg’s next game will be on the road against Wesley this Saturday at 1 p.m.