Mullineaux, Phillips Power Men's Lacrosse to Dominant Win Over Pioneers

FROSTBURG, Md. – The Frostburg State Men's Lacrosse team earned their first victory of the season with a convincing 26-7 win over Malone at home Tuesday afternoon.
 
Both teams traded possessions to start the game, not creating many clear-cut chances until three minutes in when junior Sean Mullineaux weaved his way through the Pioneer defense to open the scoring. Senior Alex Walstrum immediately won the resulting face-off, leading to Mullineaux finding sophomore Jack Hooks cutting across the goal, then senior Gregg Dort Jr. did the same, going right to net from his groundball for three goals within a minute. FSU continued to churn out offense, scoring another pair a minute apart with sophomore Luke Roach getting fed by senior Wesley Phillips, then senior Tyrin Long tacked on the fifth with a solo effort.
 
The Pioneers finally got on the board after a couple Bobcat shots missed the mark, netting their opener halfway through the period. After senior Seamus Kearney turned the ball over following a face-off win, he made up for the error by causing one on the defensive end, which led to senior Emanuel Jackson Jr. scoring. Another four minutes went by before FSU got back into a rhythm, as Phillips continued to provide on assists to Roach and Mullineaux for an 8-1 score after the first.
 
Defense dominated the opening seven minutes of the second quarter, with the sides combining for six turnovers and just one shot on goal, which was saved by senior Logan Covey. Phillips helped break the drought with yet another dime, this time finding junior Graham Allison to get the ball rolling. Covey intercepted a pass to set Frostburg's offense back up 30 seconds later, where Roach called his own number to make it a 10-1 game, then the former made another save that led to Long putting home his second of the day.
 
The Bobcats fired off another five shots in the next three minutes before an MU penalty opened up the flood gates in the final minute. Phillips dished out assists to Mullineaux and sophomore Luke Aspnes just a few seconds apart, then Mullineaux ended the half with a buzzer-beater after receiving a pass from senior Tristan Anderson for a 14-1 halftime score.
 
Malone attempted to find some life to start the second half, scoring twice within the first two minutes to make things 14-3. Their momentum wouldn't last long, as within a two-minute span, Phillips found Aspnes, Mullineaux notched a solo goal, and sophomore Henry Sykes joined in on the scoring fun to go up 17-3. MU took advantage of a man-up opportunity to score their fourth, then the teams traded two goals apiece, with Roach and Allison going back-to-back followed by a pair by the Pioneers, seeing things at 19-6 after three.
 
Frostburg kept their foot on the pedal to start the fourth, getting away four efforts before the fifth found the back of the net the way things started, as Mullineaux fed Hooks. Freshman Jack Laye was the next to add his name to the score sheet a minute and a half later, with Jackson Jr. tallying his second following a Pioneer turnover. Malone put home their final score of the day with eight and a half minutes left, but FSU wasn't close to being done. Junior Shaun Gillispie had a pair of assists to freshman Kobe Link and junior Will McNeely either side of a solo goal from Walstrum, then sophomore Wyatt Dooley passed to a wide open freshman Payton Dean to put home the final score at 26-7.
 
Mullineaux and Phillips drove the offensive effort with seven points apiece, as the latter's seven assists tied for the third-most in a single game in program history. Roach was next on the list with a quartet of goals, while Hooks, Long, Jackson Jr., Allison, and Aspnes each added two apiece. Kearney led the defensive effort with three caused turnovers and a pair of groundballs, while Walstrum was a force in the face-off circle, winning 14 of his 15 attempts.
 
With the win, Frostburg improves to 1-2 on the year, while Malone drops to 1-3. The Bobcats return to action on Saturday, March 8 to face Wheeling in a 3 p.m. road match. Information and updates will be posted to frostburgsports.com.