Men’s Lacrosse’s Rally Comes Up Short in Loss to Top-Ranked Salisbury

Coming off a huge 11-10 win over Southern Virginia three days earlier, Frostburg State (8-4, 4-1) faced their arch-rival #1 Salisbury (13-0, 6-0) Saturday afternoon at Bobcat Stadium on Senior Day. SU dominated early until Bobcats rallied late but fell short in a 16-9 loss to the Sea Gulls. Salisbury is FSU’s fourth ranked opponent that the Bobcats have faced in 13 games this spring.

Head Coach Tommy Pearce knew that this opponent was not going to be easy. “Getting to see how you stack up against the #1 team in the country is motivation itself,” he said. “Our guys work hard year round and it’s great to have the opportunity to see how you stack up against the best.”

SU entered Saturday’s matchup averaging 23.25 goals per game over its last four CAC contests, but the Frostburg defense limited the nation’s third-best offense to just 16 goals and 44 shots.

In the first quarter, Salisbury’s Nick Garbarino scored the first goal just 56 seconds into action, and then FSU junior midfielder Adam Gross scored twice in a 46-second span to give the Bobcats a quick 2-1 lead.

However, the Sea Gulls would answer by going on a 5-0 run that closed out the quarter with a 6-2 lead. The goals were scored by Adam Huber, Carson Kalama, Josh Melton, Huber again, and Kalama again.

Junior midfielder Keegan Colegrove opened the second quarter with his first goal of the afternoon that cut FSU’s deficit to 6-3. But Salisbury would answer back with four straight goals as Garbarino closed the run at 8:40 for a 10-3 lead for the Sea Gulls.

Gross would find the net with 6:38 to go in the half as the Bobcats trailed 11-5 at halftime.

In the third quarter, Salisbury would open with two goals. However, Frostburg’s attempted rally began as they scored four straight over the third and fourth quarter.
Senior midfielder Chase Cullison found Colegrove for a tally with 2:35 to go in the third, and freshman attackman Jimmy Lucas had an unassisted goal at 1:31. Gross found Cullison for a score to open the fourth quarter at 14:14 and Gross would score his fourth goal of the game at 10:35 with the score at 13-8.

But it wasn’t enough as the Gulls scored three of the game’s final four goals for the 16-9 win. Senior Chris Santina would connect with Colegrove for Frostburg’s final tally with 7:46 to play.

“I was very happy with the way we played them in the second half, but their fast start really put us behind fast,” Coach Pearce said. “I’m proud of how we continued to fight and battled back some after halftime.”

Gross led the team with four goals as well as one assist. His classmate Colegrove found the net three times, senior Chase Cullison finished with one goal and one assist, while Lucas scored once.

Frostburg senior midfielder Kyle Horak also had an impressive afternoon at the X, winning 19 of his 29 face-offs and scooping up 10 ground balls. He won 16 of his faceoffs against SU’s Duncan Campbell, who entered the game ranked 19th in Division III in faceoff winning percentage.

Freshman goalie Jack Marks notched nine saves in the loss, including seven saves in the second half as Frostburg narrowed its deficit.

Meanwhile, Garbarino and Kalama each scored three goals, while Huber finished with three scores and one assist for the Sea Gulls.

The Bobcats will host Mary Washington on Wednesday, Apr. 12 at 4 p.m. This will be FSU’s final regular-season contest at Bobcat Stadium.