BALTIMORE, Md. – The Frostburg State men's lacrosse team defeated Eastern, 13-12, on Tuesday night at Johns Hopkins University behind a game-winning goal from junior Jimmy Lucas and a career-high 20 saves from his classmate, goalie Jack Marks.
The win brings FSU's record to 2-1 in the early part of the season, while Eastern falls to 1-3.
The Bobcats struck first, netting two goals within the game's first four minutes, as first-year Matthew Ward scored his third goal of the season to get Frostburg on the board, which was quickly followed by a goal from the stick of junior Paul Ruppert with 11:30 showing in the first quarter.
Eastern took advantage of a Frostburg penalty as Sean Fletcher scored the first goal of the game for the Eagles in the extra-man situation. 31 seconds later, Fletcher again found the back of the net to even the score at two apiece.
Eastern then continued its run, scoring two more goals before the end of the first quarter.
Ruppert added two more goals two start the second quarter, one assisted by junior Michael Sipes and the other assisted by senior Jake Howarth, to even the score before the Eagles pulled ahead again with their own back-to-back goals.
With time winding down in the first half, Ward scored his second goal of the game with just 16 seconds left on the clock. Frostburg then called a quick timeout after sophomore Michael Thorne won the ensuing faceoff, which led to a last-second goal from Lucas to tie the score, 6-6, heading into the halftime.
The Eagles jumped out to another two-goal lead after the intermission, as David Thomas and Antonio Yeoman both found the back of the net. The Bobcats then took the lead after Howarth, Ruppert and sophomore Jason Clinton each scored to give FSU a 9-8 lead.
The Bobcats pulled ahead with two goals to start the final quarter, one from Ruppert, his sixth of the contest, and the other from Clinton. The Eagles stormed back however, using a four-goal run, three goals from junior Colin Piper, to take a 12-11 lead with 2:52 remaining in the game.
Ward managed to tie the game, netting his is third goal of the game with 1:21 left on the clock. The game looked to be destined for overtime, but with 30 seconds left Lucas beat the Eastern goalie and scored the game-winner for the Bobcats, leading them to a 13-12 victory.
Marks earned his second win of the season, and his 20 saves broke his previous career-high of 14, which he did on two previous occasions.
Ruppert led the offense with six points and Lucas ended the game with three points, none bigger than his deciding goal with seconds remaining.
The Bobcats will host SUNY Oneonta on Saturday, March 9, with the initial faceoff scheduled for 1:00 p.m. For up-to-date game information, including live stats and video streaming, visit frostburgsports.com.
