The St. Mary’s College of Maryland men’s lacrosse team, defending United East Conference champions, kicked off league play with an impressive 29-7 win against Penn College on Wednesday, March 8th. The Seahawks dominated Penn College from start to finish in the conference opener for both teams.
St. Mary’s College took an early lead, with three consecutive goals in the first quarter. The two sides then alternated the final six goals of the quarter, with the Seahawks leading 6-3 heading into the second frame. However, the hosts pulled away with ten unanswered goals in the second quarter, leading 16-3 at halftime. The Seahawks continued to outscore Penn College in the second half, ending the game with a 13-4 run.
Fifteen Seahawks found the back of the net in the lopsided victory, with sophomore attackman Keegan Preis leading the way with nine goals and a career-best eight assists. Senior attackman Walker Krizman was next with five points, scoring a career-tying four goals and adding an assist. Sophomore attackman Aiden Doyle scored four times and chipped in a ground ball, falling just one point short of his 100th career point. First-year attackmen Joshua Martel and Liam McNulty each tallied hat tricks to contribute to the win.
St. Mary’s also dominated the face-offs and ground balls. Senior Mitch Boudreau and first-year Matteo Ciccarello combined for 29 face-off wins, with Boudreau going 13-of-15 and Ciccarello 16-of-25 at face-off X. The duo also scooped up a total of 18 ground balls with nine apiece. St. Mary’s posted a 69-21 shot advantage while outhustling the Wildcats for a 54-26 ground ball margin.
For Penn College, Brody Borkowski went 9-of-23 at face-off X with a team-best four ground balls. The Wildcats had three players finish with a goal and an assist, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Seahawks.
This win marked Penn College’s first loss of the season, bringing their record to 5-1 overall and 0-1 in the UEC. The Seahawks improved their record to 5-2 overall and 1-0 in the UEC.
St. Mary’s College of Maryland will face Elizabethtown on March 11th in their next game, which will be held at JLR Stadium in St. Mary’s City, Maryland.