FROSTBURG, Md. - Just four days after the two sides met, Frostbug State and Roberts Wesleyan face off again in the ECC Tournament Semifinals on Wednesday afternoon.
How They Got Here
The Bobcats enter the game as the No. 2 seed in the conference, sporting a 12-4 overall record with an ECC regular season record of 4-2. FSU started out undefeated through its first eight games before losing four of its next six, with three of those losses coming against ranked opponents. After a non-conference win over Alderson Broaddus, Frostburg and RWU faced off for the right to host the semifinals in the final regular season game of the season, which the Bobcats came out victorious in.
The Redhawks sport a 9-4 record as the ECC three seed, with a 4-2 record in the conference. Roberts came out strong with a 4-1 start to their year, then dropped two of three games to ranked opponents before going on a four-game win streak. As mentioned, RWU couldn't pull off a comeback against FSU in the final regular season game, forcing them to travel for the semifinals.
The Matchup
Since the Bobcats joined Division II, the relatively new rivalry has produced close contests throughout. In the previous two seasons, the home team recorded one-goal victories to split, before Frostburg gained the upper hand with the 18-16 win at Bobcat Stadium this year.
The Players
Frostburg boasts one of the top players not just in the ECC, but in all of Division II, as senior Jake Bowman is second in all of Division II in both goals (64) and goals per game (4.00), leading the ECC in both categories. He has already broken the program records for goals and points in a single season, with a trio of teammates balancing out the offense in senior Bubba Love (35 goals, 30 assists), junior Austin Sipes (37 goals, 34 assists), and senior Owen McCallum (27 goals, 28 assists) all being over the 50-point mark. The defensive effort is primarily led by sophomore Seamus Kearney (28 caused turnovers, 42 groundballs) and senior Matt Sharkey (23 caused turnovers, 38 groundballs). In the faceoff circle, FSU uses a three-headed attack in sophomoe Alex Walstrum (.605 win pct), sophomore Gregg Dort, Jr. (.534 win pct), and junior Drew Downing (.510 win pct.).
The Redhawks also have one of the best attackers in the conference, with Reid Jackwoski putting together 36 goals and 39 assists so far this season, leading the ECC in the latter category. Behind him are a pair of sharp-shooters in Gunner MacMillan (40 goals) and Dan Doviak (35 goals). The defense is led by Luke Delavak (26 caused turnovers, 52 groundballs), Brady Kustra (22 caused turnovers, 33 groundballs), and Sam Keens (13 caused turnovers, 32 groundballs). In the circle, Roberts relies heavily on Isaac Marrero (.512 win pct), having taken over 300 faceoffs this season.
The Rest of the Field
Top seed and eighth-ranked Mercy hosts fourth-seeded Molloy in the other semifinal matchup, with the winners set to face each other on the campus of the highest seed remaining.
2023 ECC Men's Lacrosse Tournament
Wednesday, May 3 – Semifinals
#1 Mercy vs #4 Molloy - 12 p.m.
#2 Frostburg State vs #3 Roberts Wesleyan - 4 p.m.
Saturday, May 6 - Championship
Winners at highest remaining seed
