SALISBURY, Md. - The Salisbury
University men's lacrosse team dominated Hood College 29-3 in the
first round of the Capital Athletic Conference tournament on Monday
at Sea Gull Stadium. The 26-goal win was the largest margin of
victory for top-ranked Salisbury (15-0) this season.
The Sea Gulls advance to the CAC semifinals where the maroon and
gold will host fifth-seed York (Pa.) College on Thursday, April 17.
A tentative game time of 4 p.m. has been set. The Spartans traveled
to Dover, Del., on Monday and defeated fourth-seed Wesley College,
12-9. Salisbury and York played in the first official men's
lacrosse night game at Sea Gull Stadium last month as the Sea Gulls
won 25-4.
Senior attackman Matt Hickman had another
strong performance as he scored seven goals and four assists to
finish with a season-high 11 points. This was the second straight
game Hickman has scored seven goals and the third time this season.
On Monday, Hickman was named the CAC Men's Lacrosse Athlete of the
Week.
Sophomore Jake DeLillo and freshman
Erik Krum had career games against the winless
Blazers (0-16). DeLillo finished the game with a season-high six
points (four goals, two assists). Krum entered the game with four
goals for the season and more than doubled that with his
career-high five goals.
In addition to the breakout games, three other Sea Gulls posted
three-point games including junior Kylor Berkman
(one goal, two assists), junior Matt Berry (two
goals, one assist) and freshman Shawn Zordani (two
goals, one assist). SU had 13 different goal scorers as the Sea
Gulls assisted 20 of their 29 goals. This is the seventh time this
season Salisbury scored 20 or more goals.
Senior Nick Fiorentino (two saves) made his
first collegiate start in goal for the Sea Gulls and played all 60
minutes to earn the win. Senior defenseman Ben
Sandlin (five caused turnovers) and sophomore long-stick
midfielder Connor Burgasser (six caused turnovers)
gave Fiorentino all the defensive help he would need.
Salisbury scored the game's first seven goals before Hood scored
back-to-back goals in 24 seconds to close the gap to five, 7-2. The
Sea Gulls outscored Hood 6-1 up until the half where SU led 13-3.
The Sea Gulls were in complete control as they finished the game
on a 19-0 run and outshot the Blazers 58-7 on the day. The maroon
and gold scooped up 64 ground balls to Hood's 23 and won 32-of-36
face-offs. Hood turned the ball over 37 times while neither team
managed to convert on their respective extra-man opportunities in a
near penalty free game. Salisbury was 30-for-31 on clear attempts.
Salisbury has won 38 straight games since the beginning of the
2007 season and is 68-0 at home since 2003. SU also improves to
98-0 all-time in CAC play since the Sea Gulls joined the conference
in 1995.
Hood goalie Sam Hofmann made 11 saves for the Blazers as he
played the first three quarters before he made way for Nicholas
O'Brien. Five different Hood starters scored a point in the
Blazer's final CAC game of the season.
