Campbell Earns First Win

CSM, Campbell Earns First Win

The College of Southern Maryland Hawks secured their first victory of the season on March 15, beating the Union County College Owls by a score of 13-11.

This is head coach Steve Campbell's first victory as a head coach of a collegiate program. "It feels great," Campbell said. "I'm happy for the team. For them to play well and then to walk away with the W probably means more to them than it does to me but it's a heck of a feeling."

Freshman midfielder Jordan Sinclair recorded an impressive seven goals and added one assist. He now leads the team in goals with nine.

"Jordan Sinclair is a heck of a ballplayer," Campbell said. "It's people feeding him the ball, him winning the faceoff and feeding other people. If he put in seven, he didn't do it by himself, but it takes a great player to finish up like that."

Sophomore midfielders Drew Hyland and Ryan Purcell had two assists each. Sinclair, Hyland, and Purcell lead the team in points with 14, 13, and 10, respectively.

The Hawks' defense stifled the Owls' offense early by getting their sticks in front of several Union shots right as they were about to head for freshman goalie Caleb Schaffer. Schaffer made 11 saves against the Owls.

As a defenseman in his playing days, Campbell said he used the same style of play to help out his goalie. "If I could keep the ball away from the goalie I was doing my job."

A tough matchup is up next for CSM when they take on the CCBC Essex Knights, who are ranked No. 4 in the NJCAA Men's Lacrosse Coaches Association Poll.

"There's no false hope or disbelief here," Campbell said. "The boys can play lacrosse but we're going up against one of the top teams in the country so it'll be interesting." The Hawks maintained control of the ball and took shots deep in the shot clock against the Owls, so if they are able to play a similar style of offense against the Knights, "I think maybe we can hang with them," Campbell said.