SALISBURY, Md. – Junior Chris Rios scored three goals in the third quarter to bring the Frostburg State men's lacrosse team within two, but No. 2 ranked Salisbury accounted for four fourth quarter goals to overpower the Bobcats 12-6 in the Capital Athletic Conference semifinal game, Saturday afternoon at Sea Gull Stadium.

Box Score

The No. 1 seeded Sea Gulls accounted for the first two scores of the afternoon and the first goal of the second quarter, two credited to junior midfielder Mike Kane to give the hosts the 3-0 advantage.

Sophomore Tate Rolland put the fourth-seeded Bobcats on the board at 11:21 in the second frame with a man-up goal off an assist from junior Devin Colegrove. With just under four minutes to play FSU surrendered another goal to grow the deficit to three.

Rolland found the cage once more, keeping FSU within two with just 1:35 left in the first half, posting the halftime score at 4-2.

Salisbury took credit for the first goal of the second half but FSU struck back just one minute later, as Rolland found senior Andy Luhmann for his third goal of the season at 11:26.

SU seized two more goals at 10:15 and 10:03 in the third frame before Rios went to work. Rios notched his first score of the game at 7:57 but the Sea Gulls snuck one past FSU senior goalie Tyler Haines just 11 seconds later for the 8-4 advantage.

FSU retained possession of the offensive end of the field for much of the remaining minutes in the third quarter, outshooting the Sea Gulls 11-8 and holding the 9-6 ground ball advantage.

Junior defender Paul Newman had a hand in Rios' second strike of the afternoon at 4:40, but Rios was all on his own at 1:52 clutching the last goal of the third quarter to bring the Bobcats within two, 8-6 heading into the final frame.

The hosts notched four goals in the last 15 minutes of play and held FSU scoreless for the 12-6 win in the semifinal game. SU scored two man-up goals in the fourth quarter, taking advantage of five Bobcat penalties.

SU held the lead in overall shots (43-28) and ground balls (31-25). Pacing the Sea Gulls was Kane, posting a game-high five goals. Salisbury's defense played an important role in the deciding factor, causing 12 turnovers, led by senior defender Zeke Smith with four.  Sea Gull senior goalie Alex Taylor stopped 10 shots while earning the win in the cage.

In addition to the Rios hat trick, he scooped up two ground balls and caused one turnover. Rolland finished with two goals and an assist while sophomore Erik Geiser accounted for five ground balls. In goal, Haines suffered the loss despite racking up 18 saves.

Frostburg State now awaits a possible berth in either the 2014 NCAA or ECAC Tournaments.