ST. MARY'S CITY, Md. – The trio of Keegan Preis (Upper Falls, Md./Loyola Blakefield), Declan Horton (University Park, Md./DeMatha), and Joshua Martel (Linthicum, Md./North County) combined for 18 points as the St. Mary's College of Maryland men's lacrosse team notched a win in the first round of the NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse Championship Tournament Wednesday afternoon (May 8).
 
St. Mary's College (14-6) claimed its third straight victory with a 16-8 triumph over Farmingdale State College (16-4) to advance to Saturday's second round matchup with No. 2 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y.
 
How It Happened

• Five different Seahawks found the back of the net in the first quarter to help SMCM notch a 6-0 lead through the first 14-and-a-half minutes. Preis put up two goals and three assists to fuel the team's hot start. Farmingdale State jumped on the scoreboard with 24 seconds left in the first period behind an unassisted goal from Thomas Stock.

 

• The Rams then notched the first score of the second frame off the stick of Tyler Kollar to close the gap to 6-2 with 11:02 remaining in the first half. St. Mary's College then ripped four straight to stretch its lead to 10-2 with 3:41 left in the half as Horton and Preis each had a goal and an assist in the 4-0 push. Kollar tallied his second of the afternoon to make it a 10-3 contest at halftime.

 

• The Seahawks outscored the visitors, 3-1, in the third quarter as Horton scored twice and junior midfielder Nate Hochrein (Towson, Md./Towson) dished out a pair of apples.

 

• Farmingdale State edged SMCM, 4-3, in the fourth frame as the Rams used a pair of two-goal spurts for the 16-8 final. Adam Giovinco tallied two goals to lead FSC in the fourth while Stock and Kollar each added a goal and an assist.

Inside the Box Score

• St. Mary's College outshot the Rams, 51-27, while edging the visitors, 40-32, in ground balls behind a game-high 13 grounders from sophomore Matteo Ciccarello (Crofton, Md./Arundel).
• The Seahawk defense was a menace from the opening whistle, forcing Farmingdale State into 15 of its 23 turnovers. Senior defenseman Ethan Little (Bel Air, Md./C. Milton Wright) led the way with three caused turnovers while defensemen Bryce Howard (North Beach, Md./Northern) and Brandon Dabkowski (Cockeysville, Md./Dulaney) each had two.
• Ciccarello and Antonio Kaminskey battled at face-off X with Ciccarello taking the slight edge, winning 15-of-25 face-offs and Kaminskey finishing with a 13-of-28 effort.

 
St. Mary's College Game Notes

• Preis finished as the team's top point-getter as he matched a season-best eight points for the second time this season with three goals and five assists.
• Horton contributed four goals and two assists plus two ground balls.
• Martel added four scores, three ground balls, and one caused turnover while Hochrein put in three helpers and a caused turnover.
• Junior Cullen McKay (Urbana, Md./Urbana) made seven saves for his fifth win of the season.

 
Farmingdale State Game Notes

• Farmingdale State wraps up its 2024 season with a 16-4 record, its first-ever Skyline Conference championship title, and its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance.
• Kollar was the offensive leader for the Rams with three goals and an assist while Stock finished with a pair of tallies and an apple.
• Dan Erler notched eight stops and scooped up three ground balls.

Up Next for the Seahawks

• May 11 at RPI (16-2) – Troy, N.Y. (ECAV Stadium) – 12 pm (NCAA Tournament Second Round)

 
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