FROSTBURG, Md. – The Frostburg State men's lacrosse team defeated Westminster in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Championship, 10-8 on Sunday afternoon. The win was FSU's first ECAC Championship in its third ECAC Finals appearance.
Sophomore Michael Thorne was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player, winning 33-of-41 faceoffs, picking up 18 ground balls and scoring a goal in Frostburg's two games played.
Thorne opened up the scoring in the championship game immediately after winning the initial faceoff, as he took off down the field and netted the first goal seconds into the game.
The Bobcats scored two more goals, one from sophomore Jason Clinton and the other from junior Michael Sipes, before Chris Slater scored the first Titan goal of the contest. At the end of the first quarter, Frostburg held a 3-1 advantage.
Senior Paul Ruppert netted his first goal of the game three and a half minutes into the second frame, with the assist being awarded to first-year Matthew Ward. Sipes followed that goal with his second of the game on a man-up advantage.
Junior Adrian Culp took advantage of a Bobcat penalty as he netted an extra-man goal for the Titans, cutting the Westminster deficit to three goals.
With the seconds winding down before halftime, Ruppert took a pass from first-year Jake Bowman and deposited it past the Titan goalie with one second to spare. This goal gave FSU a 6-2 advantage going into the halftime intermission.
After the break, senior Joe Cooper and Ward each scored a goal to give the Bobcats' their largest lead of the afternoon, 8-2.
Westminster then went on a 6-1 run to cut its deficit to a single goal, 9-8. Slater scored three goals during the stretch, including one on an extra-man advantage. Two other goals came on the man-up advantage as well for the Titans as they clawed back into the game with 6:37 remaining in the game. Overall, Westminster had eight extra-man opportunities, and scored in four of them.
With 1:58 remaining in the game, first-year Ryan Yashinskie scored an insurance goal for the Bobcats to bring the score to 10-8, the eventual final score of the contest.
Ruppert ended the game with a hat trick, while Sipes netted two goals and added an assist. Ward finished with three assists and a goal. Slater scored four goals for the Titans, while Joe Rosa and Ryan Shorts each had a goal and two assists for the visitors.
As a team, FSU won 17 out of 22 faceoffs, while the two teams each collected 23 shots on goal. Frostburg also won 46 ground balls against Westminster's 32.
With the victory, the Bobcats ended their season with a 12-8 record, the most wins the program has had since the 2016 season. For more information on the Bobcats' men's lacrosse season, visit frostburgsports.com.
2019 ECAC Men's Lacrosse All-Tournament Team
Colin Blake – Neumann University
John Giovinazzo – Neumann University
John Allen – Pfeiffer University
Jared Nelson – Pfeiffer University
Joe Rosa – Westminster College
Ryan Shorts – Westminster College
Carter Hall - Westminster College
Michael Sipes - Frostburg State University
Greg Giles - Frostburg State University
Paul Ruppert - Frostburg State University
Michael Thorne (MVP) – Frostburg University
