St. Mary's has released its men's lacrosse schedule for the 2015 season. Here is a breakdown of the slate that awaits the Seahawks, who went 7-10 last year and lost in the first round of the Capital Athletic Conference tournament.
10: St. Mary's could return as many as seven players who posted at least 10 points last season. Senior midfielder Matt Tarrant (30 points) and junior attackman Conor Jordan (28) lead that group.
9: The Seahawks will play nine opponents in a span of 32 days from Feb. 28 to April 1. During that stretch, the team will play games on three days of rest three times and four days of rest four times.
8: The number eight was the dividing line for the St. Mary's defense in 2014. The team went 6-0 when surrendering eight goals or less, but was 1-10 when allowing nine goals or more.
7: The Seahawks' longest break of the season is seven days, which will take place three times. It's the third time in the last four years that the program's longest layoff is seven days.
6: St. Mary's longest homestretch of the season is six – beginning with a March 4 tilt against Washington College and ending with a March 24 game against Oberlin. (A game against Denison on March 18 at Johns Hopkins' Homewood Field is considered a home game.) It's the longest homestand at Seahawk Stadium in St. Mary's City since the 2010 campaign when that squad also played host to six consecutive games.
5: The Seahawks will face five opponents that qualified for last spring's NCAA Division III tournament. Washington College, Salisbury, and Denison will visit on March 4, 14, and 18, respectively. They will tangle with York on April 1 and travel to Mary Washington on April 8.
4: St. Mary's could return four defensive starters. There are three close defensemen in junior Phil Cappello, sophomore Mike Freiji and senior Grant Lowenfeld and one long-stick midfielder in senior Colin Brown.
3: The Seahawks' longest stretch of road games is three with away contests at Mary Washington, Marymount on April 11, and Christopher Newport on April 15. Last season, the team opened the campaign with six straight road games.
2: Two positions of interest are in the net and at the faceoff X. For the third straight year, St. Mary's is in search of a new starting goalkeeper between junior Joey Casey and sophomores Max Alderman and Ryan Frey. The competition for faceoff specialist will involve junior Teddy Secor and senior Reese Cassard.
1: The Seahawks became the first team in Capital Athletic Conference history to lose their opening game in the league tournament after winning the championship the previous year. It was the program's first loss in the opening round since 2008 when Mary Washington notched a 7-4 upset.