St. Mary's splashed onto the most recent poll produced by the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association, moving to No. 19 after defeating then-No. 3 Dickinson on Saturday.
But coach Chris Hasbrouck took great pains to rein back on sudden expectations associated with the 12-9 victory.
"It means we're 1-1," he said Monday. "It was a good win. We were very fortunate. Dickinson's a great team. We had a good game plan, and we stuck to it. This was one of the games where we had a couple breaks go our way. This was our first, most complete effort of playing 60 minutes, and it paid off. Good win for the program, and again – and I'm not trying to be flip – it means that we're 1-1. That's a good step."
Hasbrouck is probably taking his stance with opponents like No. 1 Salisbury, No. 5 Stevenson and No. 13 Denison remaining on the schedule. In fact, he said that Saturday's road contest at Franklin & Marshall should now take precedence in the minds of his players.
"I don't want to put too much into one game," he said. "I think I told you at the beginning of the year that every team is good. Every team on our schedule is very, very good. We're working every day to compete at that level. We have another great opponent on Saturday in F&M. We have to come out and play 60 minutes. If we don't come out with the same intensity and execute the way we should at both ends of the field, it's going to be a long day for us."
Hasbrouck said he wants to see if the Seahawks can extend their play from Saturday to this Saturday's contest. That quality, he asserted, is what separates the top-tier teams from the rest of the pack.
"We need to remain consistent and keep that high level," he said. "That's something that Dickinson has done, Salisbury has done, Roanoke has done. We haven't. We've shown flashes, but we have not maintained that high level through the course of a game or season. So that's what we are working on right now."