SALISBURY, Md. - The Salisbury University men's soccer team captured a 2-1 win over visiting No. 1 Christopher Newport University at the SU Soccer Complex in front of 330 fans on Wednesday afternoon. The win is the Sea Gulls' first victory over the No. 1 team in the nation since Sept. 28, 2007, when the Sea Gulls defeated then No. 1 York (Pa.) College in a Capital Athletic Conference match.

"We did the little things today, the gritty things that not everyone likes to do, to win this game," said SU head coach Gerry DiBartolo. "I am very proud of the guys for how hard they played."

The Sea Gulls (13-2-1) struck just one minute, six seconds into the match when senior forward Nick Malone (Salisbury, Md.) collected a ball on the right side of the six-yard box, and played it across the middle of the box where an on-running Benjamin Reed (Arnold, Md.) slotted the ball past CNU goalkeeper Justin Wolfe.

In the 17^th minute, Sea Gull junior forward Ben DeLisle (Baltimore, Md.)collected a deflected ball just outside of the 18-yard box, a few yards off the right end line, and was promptly fouled by a Christopher Newport (12-2) defender. DeLisle set up the free kick at the same spot and slid a ball onto the on-rushing foot of junior defender Justin Lambert (Silver Spring, Md.) who rocketed the ball into the bottom left corner of the goal for a 2-0 lead.  

The Captains' best opportunity of the first half came in the 43rd minute, when Karl Kummer blasted a shot on frame that went beyond the reach of SU senior goalkeeper Josh Scotton (Delmar, Md.). Luckily for SU, senior midfielder Alex Hargrove (Clarks Summit, Pa.)was standing on the goal line and cleared the ball off the line to defuse the Captains' chance. Despite the 2-0 lead, the Sea Gulls were outshot 8-2 in the first half, and the Captains held a 2-1 corner kick advantage.

The Gulls opened up the second half with a flurry of offensive activity, as they fired off three of the first four shots. The best opportunity came just 51 seconds in when Kyle Sterling (Salisbury, Md.) played a ball over the top of the CNU defense where Malone ran on and had a one-on-one with the goalkeeper. With Wolfe coming out of the goal frame, Malone shot the ball from just outside the 18-yard box, but Wolfe snagged the ball out of midair to keep the Sea Gull lead at 2-0.

The Captains then had a dangerous opportunity off a corner kick in the 71st minute, where CNU's top offensive threat Winston Mattheisen, collected the ball on the back post and shot on goal which Scotton pushed away. Mattheisen controlled the rebound, and rifled another shot on goal which Scotton tipped away with his left foot and freshman defender Nate Woods (Elkton, Md.) cleared out of the box.

After many dangerous chances, CNU found the back of the net in the 74th minute. Following an SU foul, Brian Lybert served the ball in from just outside the 18-yard box on the left. Mattheisen met the ball at the front post and headed it to the back post where Sean Moriarty headed the ball into the top right corner of the goal. CNU had one last dangerous opportunity left in them, when midfielder Nao Masuda blasted a ball from just outside the 18-yard box which went booming towards the top left corner of the goal. Scotton sprawled to his right and deflected the ball over the top of the goal frame and out for a corner kick. The Sea Gull defense was able to close out the last eight minutes without allowing a shot.

For the match, the Captains outshot the Sea Gulls 16-9 and held a 9-2 corner kick advantage. It was a physical match as there were 40 combined fouls, and four yellow cards awarded. Scotton made seven saves in the match, to notch his fifth win of the season. The defense of senior captain Justin McGrath (Perry Hall, Md.), juniors Lambert and Casey Rector (Ellicott City, Md.), plus the freshman Woods had a helping hand in the victory. Wolfe played the entire 90 minutes for the Captains and finished with four saves.

The Sea Gulls will return to CAC play this weekend when they host University of Mary Washington at 2 p.m. at the SU Soccer Complex. The winner of the match will lock up the top-seed in the CAC tournament, and with it will have home-field advantage throughout the tournament.