FROSTBURG, Md. – The 17^th-ranked Frostburg Men's Lacrosse team began their season with an emphatic 29-9 victory at home over Wheeling on Saturday afternoon.
 
Amidst a cold and snowy affair, WU had the first two shots on target, the first which was saved by junior Nate Jones before Brenner Chase found the back of the net for a 1-0 Cardinal lead. Their advantage lasted not even a minute, as graduate Bubba Love took matters into his own hands, scoring to tie the game as the Bobcats started to control possessions. Spurred on by consistent face-off wins between juniors Gregg Dort, Jr. and Alex Walstrum, FSU hit five goals in the next three and a half minutes, with graduate Justin Hulse first fed by senior Austin Sipes, then graduate Owen McCallum and Love each tacking on a pair for a five-goal lead. Graduate Chase Buckwalter ended the scoring with just under six minutes on the clock, capping a 7-1 first period advantage for Frostburg.
 
Within the first minute and a half of the second frame, Sipes scored twice on assists by Buckwalter and Hulse, growing the lead up to eight. Wheeling pulled two goals back, helped out on a man advantage for the first and a Bobcat turnover on the second, for a 9-3 score. Dort Jr. quickly restored FSU's momentum, winning the face-off himself and spinning around the WU defense for a solo goal. Once again, Wheeling was able to answer, but back-to-back Love goals kept Frostburg ahead 12-4. Another goal from Chase put the Cardinals within seven, but Sipes, senior Tyler Dooley, and freshman Luke Roach combined for five goals in the last six minutes, giving FSU a 17-5 halftime lead.
 
Love and Dooley started the third with goals either side of a Wheeling score, then Buckwalter found the back twice in between another from Love. WU took advantage of a face-off violation to pull another back, but Love and Dooley scored 10 seconds apart to keep rolling at 24-7. Turning provider in the last minute, Love dished out assists to both Hulse and Sipes, the latter a man-up goal, to go into the final period with Frostburg up 26-7.
 
The goals kept flowing in the final quarter, as the freshmen connection of Luke Aspnes to Baylor Davis kicked things off in the first minute, followed by yet another Buckwalter score and a 28-7 lead. The Cardinals got back-to-back goals just over a minute apart, which would be the final offense for the visitors, as freshmen goalkeepers Lukasz Barmosz and Xavier Wilson had a scoreless last 11 minutes between them. FSU ended the scoring with graduate Evan Dere going coast-to-coast on a solo run, putting the final touch on a 29-9 victory.
 
Both Sipes and Love set single-game program records for points, each with a whopping 13 on the day. Sipes had five goals to go with eight assists, tying the program record in the latter category, while Love had the second-most goals in a game at eight to go with five assists. Dooley and Buckwalter scored goals four apiece in rounding out the offense, while Dort Jr. and Walstrum combined to win 28 of their 31 face-offs. Senior Luke McCullough helped lead the defensive effort with three caused turnovers and five groundballs, while junior Seamus Kearney had 2 CT's and matched the former's groundball output.
 
With the win, Frostburg improves to 1-0 on the year, while Wheeling falls to 2-2. FSU returns to action on Saturday, March 2 to face Mercyhurst at 3 p.m. from Bobcat Stadium. Information and updates will be posted to frostburgsports.com.