YORK, PA – The York College men's lacrosse team suffered a hard-to-swallow 10-9 loss at the hands of visiting Capital Athletic Conference foe St. Mary's Saturday afternoon in York. The loss snaps the Spartans' five-game win streak as they now stand at 7-6 (4-1 CAC) while the Seahawks improve to 7-4 (4-1 CAC).

The Spartans came out of the gate strong, evidenced by Adam Cooper's (Bel Air, Md./Bel Air) 17^th goal of the season just 1:06 into the contest. Cooper, who had just picked up a ground ball near midfield, made a cut from right to left before throttling a wicked left-handed shot just inside the left post.

York would go on to score two more times in the frame, on Ryan McNicholas (Fallston, Md./Fallston) and Kevin Topper (Marriottsville, Md./Liberty) goals, while two from St. Mary's left the score at 3-2 after the first 15 minutes.

After JP Lennon knotted the game at three with the first goal of the second quarter, the Spartan side went on a 3-0 spurt to open up a 6-3 margin. McNicholas netted the Green and White's first two – just 20 seconds apart – on assists from Cooper and Josh Gamble (Easton, Md./Easton). Gamble then got in on the scoring act as he tallied one of the unassisted variety with 6:19 to play in the third.

St. Mary's would cut that lead to two on Dennis Rosson's first of the day, but the home squad was able to take a 6-4 lead into halftime.

It proved to be the third quarter however, that would wind up causing the Spartan loss. After Gamble and Jamie Lowe (Monrovia, Md./Urbana) combined on York's seventh of the afternoon, stretching their lead to 7-4 with 11:50 remaining in that fateful third, the Seahawks embarked on a four-goal run which turned the game around and ended the stanza with an 8-7 lead.

Rosson was part of three of the four tallies beginning with an assist on Michael Mules' 11^th notch of the season. He would record the next two goals, his team-leading 29^th and 30^th of the 2010 season, the latter of which tied the game at 7-7 with 5:01 to play. Billy Scheurer closed out the third quarter scoring as his first tally of the season gave the visitors that 8-7 advantage.

The fourth frame opened with yet another St. Mary's score as Rosson proved the catalyst yet again. He provided the assist to Bobby Cooke, which gave the Seahawks a 9-7 advantage.

In a matter of 12 and half minutes, the Spartan side had gone from leading 7-4 to falling behind 9-7.

The Green and White had found themselves in similar situations this season – most notably during their most recent victory, a 15-14 win at Wesley – and continued to battle.

That effort paid off as Lowe brought the Spartans to within one with 11:47 remaining on the clock.

Turning to their two offensive juggernauts, the Spartan duo of McNicholas and Gamble knotted the game at 9-9 with 10:43 to go. Gamble deftly found McNicholas near the Seahawk goal, allowing the senior attack put away his team-leading 42^nd score of the season.

That two-goal run however, would not turn into a three-goal run – much to the dismay of the home fans. St. Mary's John Dehm scored the game-winner off a Patrick Mull assist with only 4:44 to play.

York could manage only one more attempt – a last ditch effort by Gamble – throughout the waning minutes and could not force overtime.

For the game, St. Mary's held a 37-22 bulge in shots while York held a slight edge in groundballs at 37-36. Most tellingly however, the Seahawks won 14-of-22 faceoffs while the Green and White only managed five successful clears in 12 attempts throughout the second half.

Rosson led the Seahawk offense with three goals and two assists while seven other players each posted one goal. Mull recorded a trio of helpers while Mules registered two assists.

Albert Mitchell had a solid outing as he picked up 14-of-21 faceoff wins for the visitors while collecting four ground balls. Colin Gload also snagged four ground balls for the Seahawks. Stu Wheeler secured the win in the cage as he made nine saves over his 60 minutes.

For the Spartans, McNicholas led the Green and White with four goals while Gamble added two goals and three assists. Lowe, York's leader in helpers this season with 23, posted three points on a goal and two assists.

Chris Collins (Westminster, Md./Westminster) recorded 11 saves for the Green and White, including several from point-blank range, throughout the contest.

With their 2010 regular season home slate now complete, the Spartans hit the road for their final two contests. York begins with #1 Salisbury on Tuesday, April 13, in a 7:00 p.m. tilt in Salisbury before traveling to #3 Stevenson on Thursday, April 15.

GAME BOX

Jamie Lowe photo courtesy of Zach Clabaugh - www.sharpedgephoto.smugmug.com