FROSTBURG, Md. – Frostburg State Men's Lacrosse team cruised by Walsh University with a final score of 17-8 on Saturday afternoon in their Morgan's Message game.
The Frostburg State Men's Lacrosse team dedicated the game to the life and legacy of Morgan Rodgers, a former Duke University Lacrosse student-athlete who died tragically in July 2019 after battling mental health struggles. Morgan's Message was created by her family and former teammates with the mission to eliminate the stigma surrounding mental health, normalize the conversations about mental health, and to ensure that mental health is treated equally to physical health for all student-athletes. For more information on Morgan's life and legacy and how you can help those with mental health struggles, please visit morgansmessage.org.
Both teams had a slow start on offense, until Frostburg started to get things going six minutes into the game, scoring three straight goals from junior Austin Sipes, junior Cole Blanche, and senior Jake Bowman, for an early 3-0 Bobcat lead. Walsh responded at the 7:03 and 4:07 marks, getting two straight goals themselves. Bowman would score his second goal of the day with just over a minute left in the first quarter, giving FSU a 4-2 lead after one.
Frostburg and Walsh exchanged goals to start the second quarter as senior Justin Hulse found the back of the net first, off an assist from Bowman. Starting at the 11:31 mark, FSU then scored eight straight goals to jump out to a 13-3 lead. The Bobcats scored five straight to end the second quarter and three straight to open the third quarter. During that eight goal span, Bowman canned a hat trick himself, totaling him at five goals in the first half. Senior Bubba Love would earn a hat trick himself in that span as well, Blanche and junior Parker Masters were credited for the rest. The Cavaliers got one goal back with just under four minutes to go in the third, but the Bobcats found two more to end the quarter, building their lead to 15-4.
Walsh opened the fourth quarter with a goal, before junior Tyler Dooley found the back of the net and redshirt senior Tanner Donaldson scored on a man-up situation on an assist from senior Owen McCallum to make the score 17-5. The Cavaliers scored three more goals to end the game, allowing the final score to be 17-8, in favor of the Bobcats.
Bowman and Love combined for nine goals, each earning a hat trick, as Bowman led the way with five goals and one assist, and Love finished with four goals and three assists. Sipes and Blanche each tallied a pair of goals with four other Bobcats getting on the board on with one apiece. Graduate Mitch Meckley had yet another standout performance in goal finishing with five saves, as sophomore Nate Jones saw some time in goal as well, finishing with two saves.
With the win, Frostburg wins their fifth straight going to 5-0 on the season while Walsh drops to 1-4. The Bobcats will travel to Sparkill, NY for their next match up to face Saint Thomas Aquinas on Saturday, March 18 for a game time of 11:30 AM. For information and updates, please visit frostburgsports.com.
