Capital Athletic Conference

Frostburg State's first victory in the Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) was a meaningful step for the program. But the team - which is playing in its third season in the league - is in position to qualify for its first conference tournament. At 9-5 overall and 1-3 in the CAC, the Bobcats are currently jockeying with Mary Washington for the No. 4 seed in the six-team tournament. And they can further pad their cushion when the Eagles (7-5 overall and 1-3 in league) visit Frostburg on Wednesday evening.

Reigning national champion Salisbury was rewarded for Saturday's 15-4 rout of St. Mary's with the program's 17th Capital Athletic Conference regular-season title. The Seahawks (1993-94) and Stevenson (2009 and 2011) are the only other teams that have captured league championships, and the Sea Gulls (13-3 overall and 6-0 in the conference) assured themselves of the top seed and home-field advantage throughout the tournament. But Salisbury will not know its semifinal opponent until the upcoming weekend.

By virtue of their unblemished records in the Capital Athletic Conference, reigning national champion Salisbury and St. Mary's are in the driver's seat for the top two seeds and accompanying first-round byes in the league tournament. But that hasn't diluted the significance of Saturday's tilt at Seahawk Stadium in St. Mary's City. The Sea Gulls (12-3 overall and 5-0 in the conference) have finished in first place in the league 16 times since the CAC was formed for the 1993 season, but their reign of dominance ended in 2009 and 2011 when Stevenson took home the championships.

  With the game tied at 10 with 20:27 to play, the Loyola offense sputtered when it was needed most as Georgetown (8-2, 3-0 Big East) ended the game on a 4-1 run to pull out a 14-11 win in women's lacrosse Saturday. Annie Thomas paced the Greyhounds (5-6, 2-1) with four goals. Sophia Thomas led Georgetown with four. No. 4 Florida 19, No. 19 Johns Hopkins 9: Kitty Cullen scored five goals as the host Gators (14-1, 2-1 American Lacrosse Conference) beat the Blue Jays (7-5, 1-2)

Reigning national champion Salisbury has captured 17 league titles in the 20-year history of the Capital Athletic Conference (CAC), but this season's campaign may be the most critical to the program. Wednesday night's 10-8 loss to No. 3 Stevenson dropped the No. 6 Sea Gulls to 10-3 and may have endangered the team's bid for an at-large berth in the South Region of the NCAA tournament. Coach Jim Berkman also pointed out another side effect of the setback. “We might have lost the opportunity to host some playoff games,” he said.

There are three Division III schools in Maryland that have six opponents ranked in the preseason top 20 poll as compiled by Inside Lacrosse on their schedules. Stevenson and Salisbury are two of them, and the third is St. Mary's. The Seahawks have meetings against the No. 3 and 10-time reigning national champion Sea Gulls (April 13), No. 8 Dickinson (Feb. 23), No. 9 Denison (March 13), No. 11 Roanoke (Feb. 17), No. 16 Ohio Wesleyan (March 17) and No. 17. Washington College (March 6)

Et cetera Drexel's Lee is CAA Player of the Week Drexel guard Damion Lee (Calvert Hall) was named Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Week in men's basketball after recording his first double double of the season with a team-best 26 points and a season-high 11 rebounds in a 69-58 victory over Davidson on Saturday. The 6-foot-6 sophomore shot 8-for-17 from the field and was 8-for-8 on free throws. He also had four assists. Lee has 15 or more points in his past eight games.

Division II Team: Bowie State Coach: Darrell Brooks (fourth season, 61-22) Last year's record: 22-6 overall, 12-4 Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association Outlook: The Bulldogs were picked by league coaches to win the CIAA Northern Division. Senior guard and Mervo grad Byron Westmorland (14.6 points per game) and senior forward Dameatric Scott (6.6 ppg) were named to the preseason All-Conference team. Division III Team: Frostburg Coach: Webb Hatch (14th season, 170-175)

Salisbury men's lacrosse assistant coach Tim O'Branski has joined the Georgetown coaching staff for the 2013 season, Hoyas coach Kevin Warne announced.  O'Branski, a Binghamton, N.Y. native, comes to the Hilltop as an assistant coach after three seasons on Salisbury's staff, helping the Sea Gulls to a record of 65-3, including three Division III national championship appearances and consecutive national championships. "Tim fits the description of what we want to add to this coaching staff," said Warne, who took the Hoyas post over the summer after serving as back-to-back national runner-up Maryland's offensive coordinator the past two seasons.

Despite the defection of Stevenson to the Middle Atlantic Conference, the Mustangs and Salisbury will meet in the regular season next year. Both Sea Gulls coach Jim Berkman and Stevenson coach Paul Cantabene confirmed that the former Capital Athletic Conference foes will resume their rivalry. Cantabene said the game is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, April 3 at Sea Gull Stadium in Salisbury. Salisbury has won 10 of the 14 contests in the series including a three-game sweep this past spring.