FREDERICKSBURG, Va. -- For the second straight week, the ninth-ranked Christopher Newport men's lacrosse team swept the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Week honors as Miles Collins secured the league's top defensive award, while Dylan Rice was named the Offensive Player of the Week after leading the Captains to a victory over St. Mary's (Md.) in the regular season finale on Saturday.
 
The weekly award is the second for Rice after he was previously celebrated by the league as a freshman on April 30, 2018. Meanwhile, the Defensive Player of the Week honor is the first of Collins' career.
 
Celebrating Senior Day in style, Collins was terrific during the squad's 21-13 win over the Seahawks on Saturday. The fourth-year standout matched his career-high with three caused turnovers, which also equaled the most by a short-stick specialist in 2021. Meanwhile, he also chipped in with four ground balls and his third goal of the season.
 
Blanketing the field throughout the contest, he registered his first takeaway with a trail-check in the opening quarter before adding a rocket on the offensive end to punctuate that period. In the second stanza, he bodied up an attacker, forced another turnover, and snatched a one-handed ground ball before bursting up the field on another successful clear.
 
Later, in the fourth quarter, Collins helped stamp out St. Mary's comeback bid. First, he grabbed a loose ball after a failed clear by the Seahawks near midfield. Less than a minute later, after the visitors finally worked their way down to the other end, the senior collected an errant pass behind the crease to help punctuate one of SMC's final offensive threats.
 
Meanwhile, on the other side, Rice was a record-breaking machine on the offensive end. Against St. Mary's, he matched his career-high with six goals and four assists. Overall, his 10 total points established a new single-game school standard, topping the previous mark of nine, which was originally set by Andrew Evans in 2008 before Matt Crist and Will Geise matched it in recent years.
 
In the first half, the fourth-year phenom registered three points, including a pair of assists. Meanwhile, after SMC wiggled out to an early lead, Rice also landed the equalizer in the 11th minute after depositing his first dagger into the top left corner of the cage to knot the score at four.
 
After halftime, Rice took control of the contest. Blistering the opposition with a relentless attack, he added seven points, including five goals, over the final 30 minutes of regulation. Doing most of his damage on the inside, he tormented the Seahawks from close range before landing a man-up missile off a bounce shot to close out his second-half assault. His last goal marked his 19th career extra-man tally, matching Will Geise's all-time program record.
 
Collins, Rice, and the rest of the Captains will return to action on Wednesday when Christopher Newport hosts Southern Virginia in the Coast-to-Coast Conference Semifinals at 4 p.m.
 
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