Men’s Lacrosse Triumphant in CAC Opener, Falls to Salisbury in Semifinals

The Frostburg State University (FSU) men’s lacrosse team beat the St. Mary’s College Seahawks 13-7  in their Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) tournament opener. FSU came out of the gates strong.

The entire first quarter belonged to FSU as they scored a total of seven goals. The first of their seven was scored by midfielder Greg Bourne. Bourne would go on to have two goals in the first quarter. The other goals were scored by Andy Luhmann, Spenser Love, Tate Rolland and Devin Colegrove (2).  FSU’s offense did almost whatever they wanted in the first quarter. The Seahawks looked a bit sluggish in the first quarter, as Frostburg ran past them.

The second quarter, while not being completely opposite of the first did swing more in St. Mary’s favor as they outscored the Bobcats 3-1. St. Mary’s’ defense dug in deep and essentially stopped the Bobcats’ offensive attack. They had better energy and really began to bother FSU on all fronts.

After the Seahawks called a timeout, they scored almost immediately as Conor Jordan scored his second goal of the game. The first came earlier in the second quarter. St. Mary’s’ other goal came from Ben Love a few minutes later. The Bobcat’s only goal of the second quarter was made by Tyler Haines. Even though FSU was still firmly in the lead, momentum was beginning to shift to St. Mary’s due to their defensive pressure.

The third quarter was even for both teams as they each scored three goals. FSU opened the quarter with a great defensive play by Chris Rios who stole the ball from the Seahawks that eventually lead to a goal by Greg Bourne. This was followed by two goals by St. Mary’s from Nathaniel Babcock and Patrick Regan. Regan’s goal was answered almost immediately by Spenser Love, giving Frostburg their second goal of the quarter. St. Mary’s last score of the quarter came from Ben Love after some nice passing. Devin Colegrove got his second goal of the game and the last for both teams in the third.

The fourth quarter mirrored the first with FSU dominating most of the quarter. St. Mary’s began to panic and tried to catch up, but they ended up making mistakes and their defense suffered. In this quarter, the Bobcats scored six goals to the Seahawks’ two. Tate Rolland, Devon Stailey, Billy Lark, Rios, and Love all scored in the fourth with Rios having two in the quarter. Lark may have had the play of the game when he scored unassisted after getting the ball. St. Mary’s’ two goals came from Gordy Long and Eric Simon. Toward the end of the game, tension rose and attitudes flared, but the teams kept their composure as the Bobcats took the win.

The Bobcats moved on to play the Salisbury Sea Gulls in the CAC semifinal game, but they were outscored 12-6.

The Sea Gulls eliminated FSU from the CAC tournament after holding the Bobcats to just 6 points, the second lowest score the Bobcats had all season. The game was tightly contested, but Salisbury grabbed an early lead and never let go. The Sea Gulls scored twice in the first quarter, while the Bobcats were shut out.

Each team scored twice in the second quarter, making the score 4-2 going into halftime. An explosive third quarter saw four goals scored by each team, but FSU would not score another goal in the fourth quarter. The Sea Gulls scored four more times in the final quarter to put the game out of reach for the Bobcats.

Rios led the Bobcats with three goals on six shots. Rolland found the net twice on four shots. Andy Luhmann contributed a goal as well. Colegrove and Love, who were among the team’s top scorers, were both shut out by the top seed Sea Gulls.

Mike Kane led the Sea Gulls with five goals. Rhett DePol (2), Luke Phipps (2), Thomas Cirillo, and Donovan Lange also scored goals.

This loss brings the end of FSU’s impressive 13-5 season. The Bobcats can hang their hat on this season, but this disappointing loss is not the end that the Bobcats had in mind.