Newport News, Va. – Slow start halts the win streak for the St. Mary's College of Maryland men's lacrosse team at two as the Seahawks' second-half rally falls short Wednesday afternoon. Christopher Newport University went on to hold for the 13-10 Capital Athletic Conference win.

Despite the loss, St. Mary's (5-6, 4-3 CAC) locked up a CAC playoff berth and currently sits in fifth. If the Seahawks beat No. 18 Frostburg State University on April 18th, there will be a three-way tie for third place between FSU, SMCM, and the loser of the Christopher Newport/York College of Pennsylvania match and will force a coin toss to determine the third, fourth, and fifth seeds.

St. Mary's will host Frostburg State this Saturday at 3:00 p.m. Before the game begins, St. Mary's will honor its 10 seniors. Saturday's game is also dedicated to James 'Jim' Krause '89, who passed away on October 5, 2013 at the annual men's lacrosse alumni game. The team will be accepting donations at the game to benefit the college fund set up for Krause's young daughters, Sarah and Megan.

Senior captain Matt Tarrant (Mount Airy, Md./Urbana) led the way for the Seahawks with two and two while fellow captain Conor Jordan (Rockville, Md./Rockville) contributed two goals and an assist. Attackmen Eric Simon (North Potomac, Md./Quince Orchard) and Steve Jones (Cockeysville, Md./Loyola Blakefield) each tallied two goals for St. Mary's.

Christopher Newport (10-4, 5-2 CAC) opened up with a 5-0 first quarter as five different Captains found the back of the net. CNU then scored the first goal of the second period to post a 6-0 lead before Simon finally put St. Mary's on the scoreboard at 10:33. Each side notched five goals in the second stanza for a 10-5 Captain lead at halftime.

Senior midfielder Garrison Ernst (Bristow, Va./Brentsville District) led all scorers with a first-half hat trick while Simon and Jones each picked up their two goals in the first 30 minutes.

The Captains edged St. Mary's, 3-2, in the third quarter for a 13-7 advantage. Jordan netted an unassisted score with 56 seconds left for the final goal of the third and the Seahawks carried that momentum into the fourth, putting on a 4-0 run to close the gap to 13-10 with 6:06 remaining. St. Mary's generated only two shots while committing three turnovers in the final six minutes.

St. Mary's outshot CNU, 39-38, but the Captains owned a 43-35 margin in ground balls. Christopher Newport dominated at the X by winning 21-of-26 face-offs.

Sophomore Max Alderman (Baltimore, Md./Calvert Hall) relieved junior Joe Casey (Annapolis, Md./Mt. St. Joseph) after the first quarter and finished with eight saves while sophomore Matt Hayden (McLean, Va./Madison) recorded 16 saves in the Captains' second straight win.

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