FSU Men’s Lacrosse beats Southern Virginia in CAC Quarterfinal

The Frostburg State Men’s Lacrosse team finished the regular season with a 9-8 overall record and a 4-4 conference record, and entered the CAC Tournament as a 4-seed. On Saturday afternoon, they took on 5-seed Southern Virginia, as the Bobcats took care of business for the 14-9 victory at Bobcat Stadium. FSU had previously beaten the Knights on April 11.

FSU opened the contest on a 4-0 run in the first quarter. Senior captain Ryan Baukhages went around the net and scored, which followed with senior attackman Nate Collins, senior captain Adam Gross, and Collins again finding the net.

“Nate has been having a strong second half to his senior season and been a big part of our success,” said Coach Pearce about senior Nate Collins. Coach Pearce continued to say “Adam has been nursing an injured ankle so it’s great that he’s been able to play through it and contribute.”

However, the Knights made it competitive in the second, as Brady Cook, Cayd Rich, and Isaac DeGarlais each put up goals to cut the deficit to 4-3.

But the Bobcats answered back as Baukhages was in front of the net, got hit by an opposing player, spun around, and somehow managed to put the ball in the net to give Frostburg the 5-3 lead at halftime.

In the third, SVU’s Shawn Lamb scored an unassisted goal to again cut the deficit to one at 5-4, but seven seconds later, FSU answered with a goal from first-year midfielder Matt Pagliaro to make it 6-4. More than a minute later, sophomore midfielder Justin Carroll found Collins in front of the net, as he scored his third goal of the game that extended Frostburg’s lead to 7-4.

After two goals from SVU’s Anthony Good and then Gross again, the Knights scored two unanswered goals from Tennison Schmidt and Seth Garff to cut the Bobcats’ lead to one yet again at 8-7.

However, the Bobcats also answered with two goals of their own as senior captain Keegan Colegrove and sophomore Michael Sipes both found the net to extend FSU’s lead to 10-7.

In the fourth, after an SVU goal scored by Carter Bean, Gross answered back with his third goal of the game to make it 11-8 Frostburg.

In the middle of the final quarter, the Knights didn’t give up as Good found the net again, this time on the man up opportunity. However, Paul Ruppert also scored a man up goal, which followed with two more goals from Collins and Sipes of FSU. The Bobcats scored a total of nine goals in the second half to close out the contest.

Two Bobcats scored hat tricks on the day: Nate Collins and Adam Gross. But in Collins’ case, it was more than just a hat trick. The Bridgeville, Pa. native scored a total of four goals and also handed out two assists.

FSU outshot Southern Virginia 40-29 and made 12-of-13 clears. In net, sophomore keeper Jack Marks made eight saves, including four in the fourth quarter that prevented the Knights from narrowing the deficit any further.

After talking with The Bottom Line, Coach Pearce said “We’re looking forward to ur matchup on Tuesday. I think we’re playing our best lacrosse at the right time and have a lot of confidence.” With the win, FSU advances to the CAC Semifinal round where they will head out on the road and face number 1-seeded York (Pa.) on Tuesday, May 1 at 7 p.m.