OWINGS MILLS, Md. - The No. 1 Salisbury
University men's lacrosse team got by No. 12 Villa Julie College,
13-12, as the Gulls held the Mustangs scoreless in the final 14:40
of Saturday's Capital Athletic Conference showdown before a crowd
of 500. The victory improves Salisbury's unprecedented conference
win streak to 96 games where the maroon and gold is 77-0 in the CAC
regular season.
Salisbury (13-0, 6-0 CAC) cycled through three goalies in the
match-up, as junior Riley Clark (two saves) earned
his 11th victory of the season, in relief, as he allowed just one
goal in the final 19:22 to close out the game for SU. Junior
Zach Krissoff (six saves) started his second
consecutive game where he allowed nine goals in over 37 minutes.
Fellow junior Mike Petti (0 saves) came in for a
few minutes but surrendered two Mustangs goals.
The Gulls made it tough for their goal keepers as SU was at a
disadvantage for eight minutes as they served time for 11
penalties. The Mustangs (8-3, 4-1 CAC) capitalized as they scored
six extra-man goals while Salisbury was 2-for-6 on man-up
situations.
Salisbury battled through the adversity as it faced a 12-10
deficit with 14:40 left to play. The Sea Gulls turned the tide as
they rallied to score the final three goals, all unassisted, to win
their 36th straight game since 2007.
Junior Patrick Bonanno (one goal, one assist)
started the comeback with a goal at 14:04 before sophomore
Jake DeLillo (one goal, one assist) knotted the
game at 12 with 6:11 remaining. SU midfielder Ryan
Brown (10-for-21 face-offs) won the ensuing face-off which
allowed sophomore Mike Von
Kamecke (one goal, one assist) to win the game with a rip
with 5:50 on the clock.
The one-goal victory was Salisbury's third of the season, and
the second half comeback was the fifth in the last six games for
the defending national champs. The uncharacteristic 12 goals
allowed against the Mustangs is the highest total given up by the
Sea Gull defense since the 2006 national championship game against
SUNY Cortland. The Red Dragons won 13-12 in overtime.
Senior attack scoring duo Matt Hickman (one
goal, two assist) and Greg Titus (three goals) led
the way for the Sea Gulls as they each recorded three-point games
on the day. Senior Bruce Richardson (two goals)
rounded-out the multiple point games for SU.
Salisbury scored the game's first six goals and led 6-0 after
the first quarter but had the tables turned in the second when VJC
scored six to send the teams into the half tied.
The Gulls and the Mustangs were evenly matched as both teams got
off 40 shots, VJC won 16-of-28 face-offs while both teams were
nearly perfect on clears (VJC 21-for-21, SU 27-for-29). Villa Julie
scooped up three more ground balls than Salisbury, 38-35.
Three VJC players combined to score 15 of the Mustangs' 21
points. Greg Furshman led the way with five goals, four of which
came in a 10-minute stretch, and one assist. Steve Kazimer netted
one goal and made four assists, while Nicola Bevacqua put in three
goals and made one assist. VJC goalie Eric Fleegle recorded 13
saves against his former team in the loss. Mustang midfielder
Brandon Hastings won 16-of-25 face-offs.
Salisbury will close out its CAC regular season schedule on
Friday, April 11, when they host St. Mary's (Md.) College under the
lights in Sea Gull Stadium at 7 p.m.
