ST.MARY'S CITY, Md. - The Frostburg State men's lacrosse team traveled to St. Mary's (Md.) for a first round matchup in the Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) tournament.  FSU claimed a 12-10 victory to advance to the conference semifinals.

The Bobcats move to 10-7 overall, and 3-4 in the CAC while the Seahawks now sit at 10-8 overall and 3-3 in the conference.

Frostburg had a strong start with five goals in the first quarter, three of which came in the contest's first five minutes. The first goal at 12:54 was the result of a successful clear finished off by junior Jimmy Lucas.

The second Frostburg goal started with a caused turnover by senior Gregory Giles in the midfield. Once the ball made its way down the field, junior Michael Sipes found the back of the net off an assist by junior Paul Ruppert.

Shortly after the second goal, junior Sam Natvig won the ensuing face-off, which was collected by first-year Matt Sharkey. Less than a minute later, sophomore Jeffrey Stallings tallied his third goal of the season, assisted by sophomore Jason Clinton.

Lucas then went on to score again at 6:50 and first-year Matthew Ward bringing in a fifth goal for the Bobcats at 3:02.
The Seahawks were able to make a run in the second quarter, outscoring the Bobcats 5-1. Frostburg added to their ledger at 11:56 when Ruppert was assisted by Sipes to make the score 6-0. St. Mary's responded with five goals to finish off the quarter and bring the score 6-5 into halftime.

St. Mary's opened the second half with a goal at 10:02 to even the score at six. Frostburg responded with a goal by Clinton less than a minute later.

FSU found the back of the net twice more in the third quarter with goals from first-year Jake Bowman, and first-year Gavin Schattal bringing the score to 9-6.

The final quarter brought seven combined goals between both teams. Frostburg kicked off the scoring of the final period with a second goal from Clinton after a successful clear and ground ball from Ruppert.

 A ground ball pickup by Sharkey lead to a successful clear and then a shot but was blocked. Ruppert was there to back up his teammate scooping up a ground ball and then ten seconds later Sipes scored to hand Frostburg an 11-6 advantage with 10:21 remaining in regulation.

The Seahawks with a run of four-consecutive goals to cut the FSU advantage to 11-10 with 44 seconds left. However, Natvig won the game's final face-off and Ruppert scored as time expired, making the final score 12-10.

Frostburg picked up 35 groundballs and attempted 36 shots , while St. Mary's kept picked up 30 groundballs and took 35 shots. Natvig went 12-20 on face-offs.

Sipes and Ruppert each registered two goals and two assists. Clinton had two goals and one assist, while Jimmy Lucas added a pair of goals as well.

Junior goalkeeper Jack Marks finished the game with 10 saves, 10 ground balls and five caused turnovers in 60 minutes of action.

Frostburg will advance to the second round of the CAC tournament and will face York (Pa.) on Wednesday, May 1. For more information go to www.frostburgsports.com.