St. Mary's City, Md. – Strong second quarter not enough as the St. Mary's College of Maryland men's lacrosse team dropped an 18-10 Capital Athletic Conference decision to Christopher Newport University on Wednesday afternoon.

Senior captain Conor Jordan (Rockville, Md./Rockville) racked up four goals to lead the Seahawks in the loss while first-year midfielder Ray LaPlaca (Owings, Md./Calverton) notched his first two goals of the season and dished his third assist of the year.

St. Mary's (4-8, 2-5 CAC) struck first as Jordan found the back of the net with an unassisted tally at 9:44. However, the Captains, who received votes in this week's USILA Division III Coaches Poll, rattled off four unanswered goals, including one with 12 seconds left, to stake a 4-1 lead after one period.

CNU (12-3, 6-1 CAC) stretched its lead to 5-1 at the start of the second quarter before the Seahawks answered with five straight goals in a 4:20-minute span to reclaim the lead, 6-5, at 7:33. Junior midfielder Randy Foster (Forest Hill, Md./North Harford) put a stop to St. Mary's run with back-to-back goals, returning a one-goal lead at 2:21.

Senior midfielder Zack Tarallo (Northborough, Mass./Algonquin Reg.) knotted the game at 7-7 at 1:48 with his second tally of the season but sophomore midfielder Jake O'Connell (Springfield, Va./West Springfield) sent the Captains into halftime with a 8-7 lead as O'Connell put one past junior goalkeeper Max Alderman (Baltimore, Md./Calvert Hall) with two ticks on the clock.

Junior attackman Ryan Mills (Ellicott City, Md./Howard) paced Christopher Newport in its second straight win with seven points on two goals and five assists while sophomore attackman Matthew Crist (Charlottesville, Va./Albemarle) registered five goals and one helper. Foster finished the game with five points on four goals and an assist.

The Seahawks stayed within one at 12:47 of the third as senior midfielder J.G. Hahn (Ellicott City, Md./Loyola Blakefield) scored his fourth of the season. But CNU closed out the third on a 4-1 run to claim a 13-9 advantage. It was all Captains in the fourth quarter as Christopher Newport outscored St. Mary's, 5-1.

CNU fired off 55 shots to the Seahawks' 38 and edged the hosts, 39-38, in ground balls as sophomore Tony Cruz (Littleton, Colo./Heritage) scooped up eight. St. Mary's posted 16-of-30 face-off wins as senior defender Phil Cappello (Woburn, Mass./Austin Prep) went 8-of-13 with four ground balls.

Alderman came up with 13 saves while junior Matt Hayden (McLean, Va./Madison) made seven stops in 58 minutes.

The Seahawks will be back on the field on Saturday, April 16 as St. Mary's travels to Western Maryland to take on Frostburg State University in SMCM's regular-season finale at 12:00 p.m. 

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