Fredericksburg, Va. – Seniors Matt Tarrant (Mount Airy, Md./Urbana) and Eric Simon (North Potomac, Md./Quince Orchard) each tallied a hat trick as the St. Mary's College of Maryland men's lacrosse team posted an important 9-6 Capital Athletic Conference win over University of Mary Washington on Wednesday night.

The win puts St. Mary's (4-5, 3-2 CAC) in a two-way tie with Christopher Newport University (8-4, 3-2 CAC) for fourth in the conference standings. The Seahawks will face Marymount University (5-6, 2-4 CAC) this Saturday, April 11th on the road at 1:00 p.m. before taking on Christopher Newport down in Newport News, Virginia on Wednesday, April 15th.

Tarrant finished the night with four points as he added an assist to his hat trick while Simon netted two of his three goals in the fourth quarter to give St. Mary's a four-goal lead with 7:46 left in the game.

The Seahawks shut out Mary Washington (5-6, 2-4 CAC) in the first quarter as Tarrant had a hand in both goals of the team's 2-0 run. St. Mary's then edged the Eagles, 3-2, in the second period for a 5-2 advantage at halftime. Tarrant led all scorers at intermission with two goals and an assist.

Mary Washington scored the first two of the third stanza to close the gap to 5-4 at 11:34. The Seahawks responded by notching two goals in 30 seconds to stake a three-goal lead at 8:17. Sophomore attackman Miles Davis (Earlysville, Va./St. Anne's-Belfield) pulled the Eagles within two with his unassisted tally at 5:34.

Simon netted both Seahawk goals in the fourth to put St. Mary's up by four at 7:26. Sophomore midfielder Mike Marson (Chantilly, Va./Chantilly) picked up an unassisted goal at 6:29 for a three-goal Eagle deficit.

The Seahawks won the ensuing face-off but it was Mary Washington who was on the offensive for the rest of the game. The Eagles fired off three more shots, two of which were denied by junior goalkeeper Joe Casey (Annapolis, Md./Mount Saint Joseph), but committed a pair of turnovers and St. Mary's held on for the 9-6 win.

Mary Washington outshot the Seahawks, 40-29, while owning a 23-19 margin in ground balls. St. Mary's won the battle at the X, posting a 12-19 face-off effort. Senior midfielder Reese Cassard (Chevy Chase, Md./Gonzaga College) led the way as Cassard went 6-of-10 while fellow midfielder David Fritz (Phoenix, Md./Calvert Hall) was 5-of-8 with three ground balls.

Casey finished with 13 stops while first-year Colin Bressan (Charlottesville, Va./St. Anne's-Belfield) came up with seven saves and three ground balls for Mary Washington.

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