Box Score St. Mary's City, Md. – The St. Mary's College of Maryland men's lacrosse team could not find a way past the University of Mary Washington's defensive line, dropping a 13-7 decision in Capital Athletic Conference action Wednesday afternoon.
Senior captain Austin Toland (Cockeysville, Md./St. Paul's School) paced the Seahawks in today's contest with a hat trick while junior midfielder Luke Eshleman (Annapolis, Md./Broadneck) added two assists.
Toland and Eshleman joined up for the game's first goal at 10:14 before heading into the second quarter tied at 1-1 as junior attackman Miles Davis (Earlysville, Va./St. Anne's-Belfield) found the back of the net with an unassisted goal at 4:59.
Mary Washington (5-8, 3-3 CAC) outscored the Seahawks (3-7, 1-4 CAC), 4-1, in the second period and claimed a 5-2 advantage at halftime. First-year midfielder Shane McKenzie (Lothian, Md./Southern) scored twice in the Eagle run.
Davis and junior midfielder Mike Marson each finished the afternoon with three goals and two assists. First-year Eli Ayer (Glenwood, Md./St. Paul's School) dominated face-off X as Ayer won 15-of-19 and scooped up a game-best six ground balls.
The Eagles established a six-goal advantage at 5:38 of the third stanza by notching four of the first five goals of the quarter. St. Mary's then scored three goals in less than a minute as three different Seahawks broke through the UMW defense, closing the gap to 9-6 with 26 seconds left. Davis fired off his second of the day with 11 seconds to go to keep SMCM at bay.
Davis carried his momentum into the fourth, netting the first of the final period and sparking three unanswered goals. St. Mary's seventh goal of the day came with 1:42 remaining in the game as Toland finished off the feed from senior captain Conor Jordan (Rockville, Md./Rockville).
Mary Washington outshot the Seahawks, 49-25, and edged the home team, 30-23, in ground balls despite five loose ball pickups from junior defenseman Javier Flores (Hyde Park, Mass./Concord-Carlisle).
The Seahawk defense killed four of the five extra-man opportunities as junior defenseman Jackson Patrican (Boxford, Mass./Pingree) scooped up four ground balls and caused two turnovers.
Junior goalie Max Alderman (Baltimore, Md./Calvert Hall) picked up 13 saves in the team's second straight loss while sophomore Sam Wasson (Palmyra, Pa./Palmyra) tallied eight saves, including six in the second quarter, for Mary Washington's second consecutive win.
The Seahawks will be back on the field this Saturday, April 9 as St. Mary's welcomes Marymount (Va.) University to Seahawk Stadium in another important CAC matchup at 3:00 p.m. on Senior Day.
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