ST. MARY'S CITY, Md. – The dance continues for the St. Mary's College of Maryland men's lacrosse team following historic win Wednesday afternoon (May 10). St. Mary's College (15-5) picked up the program's first-ever NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse Championship Tournament victory, posting a 10-5 triumph over the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (10-7) in first round action.
 
Not only does today's win propel the Seahawks into the next round but it also sets the school single-season record for wins at 15, breaking the old mark of 14 from last season.
 
The Seahawks will now face No. 5 Middlebury College (16-2), who earned a first-round bye, in Saturday's second-round game at 12 p.m. on the campus of Union College (Schenectady, N.Y.).
 
How It Happened

• Carter Hall opened the scoring just under four minutes into the game with an unassisted tally to put Merchant Marine on the board first.
• St. Mary's generated several scoring opportunities after that first Mariner goal, but Samuel Stephenson made four saves to keep the hosts off the board.
• The Seahawks finally broke through with 4:22 remaining in the first quarter as junior attackman Billy Higgins (New Market, Md./Linganore) converted on an off-balance shot.
• Higgins' 19th goal of the season opened the floodgates as St. Mary's unleashed four more goals over the next four-and-a-half minutes to stake a 5-1 lead with 13:21 left in the first half.
• The Mariners cut their deficit in half and headed into halftime down 5-3 following back-to-back goals from Hall and Jack Collins as Jack DeTommaso assisted on both goals.
• The two teams traded the first two scores of the third before a Higgins goal and two from first-year attackman Joshua Martel (Linthicum, Md./North County) gave St. Mary's its biggest lead of the game, 9-4, with 11:07 to go in the game.

Inside the Box Score

• Statistically speaking, the game was evenly played as neither team completely dominated any category.
• The Seahawks earned a 43-31 shot advantage while edging Merchant Marine, 28-23, in grounders. Senior Mitch Boudreau (Towson, Md./Towson) and junior defenseman Ethan Little (Bel Air, Md./C. Milton Wright) each scooped up five ground balls to lead St. Mary's.
• Boudreau won 10-of-17 face-offs to help the Seahawks finish the game 11-for-19 at face-off X.
• USMMA committed 21 turnovers for the game with 12 being unforced errors.

 
St. Mary's College Game Notes

• Higgins collected his third career hat trick as he scored a career-tying three times.
• Senior attackman Walker Krizman (Damascus, Md./Damascus) also finished with a game-best three points as Krizman put up two goals and one dime.
• Junior defenseman Brendan Connelly (Lutherville, Md./Calvert Hall) commanded the defense as Connelly matched a career-most three caused turnovers while picking up four loose balls to set a season benchmark.
• Senior goalie Ben Robertson (Davidsonville, Md./South River) made seven saves in the win.

 
Merchant Marine Game Notes

• Hall led the Mariners offensively with three goals while DeTommaso finished with two assists.
• Stephenson turned away 12 Seahawk shots, including nine in the first half to keep USMMA in the game.

Up Next for the Seahawks

• May 13 vs. No. 5 Middlebury (16-2) – Schenectady, N.Y. (Union College) – 12 p.m.

 
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