St. Mary's City, MD – Freshman middie Ryan Alexander (Laurel, MD/Palotti) made the most of his first collegiate start as Alexander netted a season-high five goals in the St. Mary's (Md.) College men's lacrosse team's 11-4 victory against York (Pa.) College Saturday afternoon in Capital Athletic Conference action.

St. Mary's posted a 2-0 lead after first period play following goals from junior attackers Pat Oliphant (Chatham, NJ/Chatham) and John Oliver (Newtown, CT/Newtown) at 11:47 and 10:30, respectively.

The second frame was the all-Alexander show as he notched three unassisted goals, including two within 29 seconds of each other, to give the Seahawks (7-3, 3-2 CAC) a 5-0 halftime lead.

An Alexander goal at 14:03 started off the third quarter before York's junior middie Chris Chappelle (Stevensville, MD/Chesapeake) tallied an unassisted goal at 10:44 to finally put the Spartans on the scoreboard. St. Mary's would go on to close out the third on a 3-0 run for a 9-1 lead going into the fourth.

However, the Spartans controlled the beginning of the fourth stanza with three consecutive goals from three different York players to help YCP pull within 9-4 with 6:08 left in the game. Goals from Oliphant and Alexander allowed SMCM to seal the 11-4 win.

Seeing his first game action since March 13, sophomore middie Marc DiPasquale (Joppa, MD/Boys' Latin) won 15-of-17 face-offs for the Seahawks.

Oliphant finished the day with a hat trick, while Oliver had a goal and two assists. Senior defenseman Michael Alcamo (Severna Park, MD/Severn) owned the defensive third with 14 ground balls and five caused turnovers.

Sophomore defenseman Steve Mersinger (Westminster, MD/Westminster) had nine ground balls and two caused turnovers for the Spartans.

Senior Rich Barr (Salisbury, MD/Worcester Prep) made 15 stops for the Seahawks, including eight in the third period, and had one ground ball. York's junior Matt Keeler (Morton, PA/Ridley) turned away 10 shots in the loss and scooped up three loose balls.

St. Mary's returns to action April 3 when the Seahawks travel to Swarthmore, PA to face Swarthmore College in a non-conference match-up at 7:00. York will host No. 17 Villa Julie on April 4 at 3:30 in league action.

2007-04-01