FROSTBURG, Md. – The Frostburg men's lacrosse team put up a valiant fight and gave the second-ranked York (Pa.) Spartans a scare on Wednesday night at Bobcat Stadium before the Bobcats suffered an 8-6 loss.
 
Frostburg trailed 5-1 at halftime against the nation's top scoring offense.
 
The Bobcats started their rally in the third quarter as they outscored the Spartans 3-1 in the third stanza and pull within 6-4 at the close of the frame.
 
In the fourth, the Bobcats pulled to within two goals twice after scoring a pair late in the frame.
 
However, Frostburg's shot with 59 seconds left missed wide of the net and a late turnover sealed the York win.
 
The loss drops FSU to 9-7 overall and 4-3 in the league. The defeat snapped Frostburg's five-game winning streak and is the fourth loss to a ranked team this spring.
 
The Frostburg defense held York to its second lowest scoring output of the season and held the visitors to almost eight goals below their scoring average. YCP also entered Wednesday night's game as the nation's leader in scoring margin (9.57).
 
The victory pushes the Spartans to 14-1 overall and 6-0 in the CAC with their 10^th-consecutive win.
 
Senior Nate Collins scored Frostburg's lone first-half goal with 6:10 showing in the first quarter. Sophomore Paul Ruppert was credited with the assist and the tally tied the game at 1-1.
 
York (Pa.) rebounded with all four goals in the second quarter for a 5-1 halftime cushion. Matt Whitcher scored three times in the first half for YCP.
 
Collins found fellow senior Adam Gross for the first goal of the second half (13:11) and the Bobcats pulled to within two moments later when senior Daniel Paladino connected with senior Keegan Colegrove for another goal.
 
The teams traded goals to close the third as FSU first-year Jason Clinton scored with 6:54 showing as the scoreboard read 6-4.
 
The two teams again traded goals in the fourth quarter as Gross found Paladino with 3:09 to play and Gross scored an unassisted goal with 1:33 to play to pull the final to 8-6.
 
Bobcat first-year Matt Pagliaro won the ensuing faceoff following Gross' goal but Frostburg was unable to score again and a late turnover gave the Spartans the ball back with 41 seconds to play.
 
Collins, the reigning CAC Offensive Player of the Week, finished the night with one goal and two assists, while Gross tallied two goals and one assist. Senior defender Bradley Jones and sophomore keeper Jack Marks each forced three turnovers in the contest, while Marks led the way with seven ground balls.
 
Frostburg finished just 5-of-17 on faceoffs and relied on nine saves from Marks and 12 caused turnovers by the defense to gain possession. York (Pa.) outshot the Bobcats 36-25, but the visitors landed just 17 on net.
 
Whitcher led the Spartans with three goals and one assist, while Hunter Davis scored twice.
 
Frostburg closes out its regular season on Saturday when it travels to seventh-ranked Salisbury at 1:00 pm.