FROSTBURG, Md. – The Frostburg State men's lacrosse seniors were responsible for over half of the team's 29 points against Capital Athletic Conference opponent St. Mary's, Saturday afternoon. The Bobcats defeated the Seahawks, 18-9, at a sunny Bobcat Stadium.
Senior Spenser Love led both teams with seven points behind two goals and five assists, while classmates Tate Rolland (4 goals), Nick Stailey (3 goals) and Blake Grudzien (1 goal) all found the back of the net for the graduating Bobcat class.
Senior Erik Geiser finished a nearly-perfect 15-of-17 on face-offs and scooped up a record-breaking 12 ground balls to surpass former Bobcat Billy Lark as FSU's all-time leader in ground balls. Geiser now has 293 career ground balls.
Senior goalkeeper Tom Kraemer also had an outstanding day in between the pipes, allowing just four goals and tallying seven saves, many from point-blank range.
Frostburg improves to 14-3 overall and closes out league play with five wins and three losses heading into Tuesday's opening round of the CAC Tournament. St. Mary's falls to 4-9 overall and 2-6 in the CAC.
The Bobcats led the Seahawks in nearly every statistical category, including shots (55-41), ground balls (41-21), face-offs won (21-9), and capitalized on 2-of-5 extra man opportunities, while St. Mary's was just 1-of-4 in man-up situations.
Grudzien opened the game with a goal just 55 seconds in, and Rolland followed suit with 9:26 to go to give Frostburg an early 2-0 lead. St. Mary's Nick Wilkinson added a goal 38 seconds later, but sophomore Ethan Aikin buried a pass from classmate Nick Pontorno to keep FSU ahead, 3-1 heading into the second quarter.
Sophomore Adam Gross had a hand in the next two goals, dishing a pass to Stailey (13:42), then finishing a shot himself (12:36) to give the Bobcats a cushy 5-1 lead.
A goal from the Seahawks' Conor Jordan brought St. Mary's back within three, 5-2, but Rolland had the next three for the Bobcats and Pontorno and Love added goals with time winding down to take a 10-3 lead at halftime.
Frostburg scored seven of the eight goals in the third quarter, with Love scoring once and handing out two assists and Pontorno and sophomore Keegan Colegrove each finding the back of the net twice to give FSU a 13-goal lead, 17-4.
Following a Seahawk penalty to open the fourth, Love found Stailey for the Bobcats final tally at 10:34. St. Mary's added five more goals before the final horn sounded, but it was all Frostburg from start to finish.
Pontorno finished with three goals and one assist, while Gross (1g, 2a), Colegrove (2g, 1a), and Aikin (2g, 1a) all had three points in the victory. Sophomore Ryan Baukhages handed out an assist and senior goalkeeper Taylor Schmitz added three saves after relieving Kramer in the crease.
Wilkinson led St. Mary's with three goals, while Max Alderman and Ross Snodderly shared time in goal for the Seahawks. Alderman finished with seven saves on the day.
Frostburg returns to action on Tuesday, April 19 when the fourth-seeded Bobcats play host to the fifth-seeded Mary Washington Eagles in the opening round of the Capital Athletic Conference Tournament. Opening face-off is scheduled for 4:00 pm.
Fans can follow all of the action live at www.FrostburgSports.com/Live.
