Defense Shuts Out Spartans for Three Quarters in Men's Lacrosse Home Win

FROSTBURG, Md. – The Frostburg State Men's Lacrosse team took down St. Thomas Aquinas 15-2 on Saturday afternoon in a comfortable home performance.
 
Both sides had attempts at goal in the opening couple minutes, but each goalkeeper stood to their task to keep the game scoreless. FSU began to operate at a quicker pace, firing off another pair of shots on goal before finally breaking through five and a half minutes in on a tally from graduate Owen McCallum. The Bobcat defense forced a turnover on STAC's next possession, leading graduate Bubba Love to find classmate Chase Buckwalter in front of goal to double the lead. Not even 10 seconds later, junior Alex Walstrum won the resulting face-off, charged down the field and passed to senior Austin Sipes for a sudden 3-0 lead. Junior Seamus Kearney forced another Spartan turnover, with Sipes then feeding Love to go up four at the seven-minute mark. The scoring stopped from that point forward, as some solid defense was paired with sloppy offense to the tune of nine combined turnovers before the end of the frame.
 
Much of the same run of play continued into the second, as junior Nate Jones and the defense continued to keep STAC off the board, with Love getting his second of the day with a solo goal just over three minutes in. Frostburg pelted the Spartan goal with shot after shot, but couldn't breakthrough the combination of Craig Peavy in net, the posts, and the crossbar. Despite controlling possession and forcing five turnovers, FSU had to settle for a 5-0 lead at halftime, firing away 17 shots to just two for the visitors in the final 11 and a half minutes.
 
As the second quarter was quiet, the third began with an explosion of six Bobcat goals within the first four minutes. Having won the opening face-off, Walstrum called his own number for the opening goal, as McCallum and Love followed with tallies of their own. A two-minute non-releasable penalty on STAC gave FSU the freedom to run rampant, with McCollum, Love, and junior Blaine Karotko all padding the lead within the penalty span for an 11-0 advantage. Junior Drew Mullineaux took advantage of a caused turnover by senior Nick Agresta, taking the ball into the back of the net off a Sipes pass. Continuing the offensive hum, McCollum found senior Tyler Dooley and Sipes dished another assist to freshman Henry Sykes, then Buckwalter scored once more on a pass from senior Brady Crumbacker, taking the game into the fourth at 15-0.
 
The sides pushed one another for opportunities on offense in the final frame, as neither team could get a score through the first half of the period. After seven and a half minutes, STAC finally got themselves on the board with a goal, forced a turnover, and scored a second two minutes after the first to get the score to 15-2. FSU was unable to generate much offense having just put forward a 10-goal quarter, getting away just a single shot in the final five minutes, but also kept the Spartans from adding to their total as they took the final by a 13-goal margin.
 
Love drove the offense with four goals and three assists, totaling seven points, with Buckwalter and McCallum both adding multiple scores as well. Senior Luke McCullough, Kearney, and Agresta combined for nine caused turnovers and seven groundballs in the defensive effort, while Walstrum and junior Gregg Dort, Jr. won 14 out of their 15 face-offs.
 
With the win, Frostburg improves to 4-2, while STAC falls to 2-7. FSU will next travel to Johns Hopkins to take on Wilmington (Del.) on Wednesday, March 20 at 7 p.m. from Homewood Field. Information and updates will be posted to frostburgsports.com.