For Immediate Release · By Nairem Moran · nmoran@smcm.edu

St. Mary's City, Md. – The St. Mary's College of Maryland men's lacrosse team picked up their third straight loss Wednesday afternoon as the Seahawks were led by junior Ray LaPlaca (Owings, Md./Calverton), who tallied game-highs of three goals and four points for his third straight hat trick. St. Mary's (3-7) dropped a 10-5 decision to Eastern University (3-5) to wrap up its non-conference schedule.

How It Happened

• Eastern struck first at 13:16 as Sean Fechter notched an unassisted goal before sophomore midfielder Erich Wuesthoff (Newbury Park, Calif./Newbury Park) evened up the score less than two minutes later off an assist from junior attackman Max Groen (New Haven, Conn./Choate Rosemary Hall).
• The Eagles then took over as the visitors rattled off seven unanswered goals to own an 8-1 lead with 6:21 remaining in the third quarter. EU had headed into halftime with a 5-1 advantage.
• The two teams traded the next four goals in the final six minutes as Eastern staked a 10-3 margin at the start of the fourth. LaPlaca and first-year attackman Ben Claffee (Forest Hill, Md./Fallston) each scored for the Seahawks in the third.
• Only two goals were scored in the final 15 minutes and both game off of LaPlaca's stick. Claffee assisted on the second as LaPlaca picked up his fifth man-up goal of the season.

Inside the Box Score

• LaPlaca added two ground balls while senior captain Conner Campbell (Berwyn, Pa./Conestoga) paced the defense with three caused turnovers and two ground balls.
• First-years Luke McWright (Baldwin, Md./Loyola Blakefield) and Dominic Venanzi (Bel Air, Md./C. Milton Wright) each scooped up three ground balls.
• Junior goalie Ross Snodderly (Reisterstown, Md./Franklin) made nine saves and registered his first career caused turnover.
• Fechter posted three goals and an assist while Mark Buannic chipped in two goal and two assists. Zach Bauer won 15-of-19 face-offs and notched a game-best six ground balls. In goal, Jameal Hadeed made five stops with a ground ball in 45 minutes.

Game Stats

• Shots: St. Mary's 30, Eastern 30
• Ground Balls: St. Mary's 19, Eastern 26
• Face-Off Wins: St. Mary's 4, Eastern 15
• Extra-Man Opportunities: St. Mary's 2-2, Eastern 0-2
• Saves: St. Mary's 9, Eastern 6
• Caused Turnovers: St. Mary's 8, Eastern 4
• Turnovers: St. Mary's 15, Eastern 17
• Penalties: St. Mary's 2 for 1:30, Eastern 2 for 1:30

Up Next for the Seahawks

• Mar. 31 vs. No. 15 Christopher Newport University (9-1, 2-0 CAC) – Seahawk Stadium – 1:00 p.m. 

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