SALISBURY, Md. -The No. 16 Salisbury University men's soccer team fell to Stevenson University 1-0 at the SU Soccer Complex in the Capital Athletic Conference tournament semifinal round on Tuesday. It was the Sea Gulls' first loss in the CAC tournament since Nov. 6, 2006 when they fell to York (Pa.) College in the semifinal round. With the victory, No. 4 seed Stevenson will advance to the CAC Championship where it will take on the No. 2 seed, York. The Spartans defeated No. 3 seed University of Mary Washington 3-1 in the other semifinal contest.

It was a physical match between Salisbury and Stevenson as there were a combined 40 fouls and five yellow cards issued. Stevenson (12-8) notched the game-winning goal in the 43rd minute, when Kyle Baker collected a deflected ball just inside the 18-yard box and shot the ball into the top left corner of the goal.

The Sea Gulls (14-3-1) had several key chances to knot things up. The most dangerous opportunity came in the 88th minute, when senior forward Nick Malone (Salisbury, Md.) collected a played ball just outside the 18-yard box. Malone outmuscled his defender and created a small breakaway opportunity; he put a shot on frame, which Stevenson goalkeeper Ryan Flannelly smothered and did not allow a rebound.

The Sea Gulls had another dangerous opportunity in the 69th minute, as senior midfielder Kyle Sterling (Salisbury, Md.) gathered a cross on the far post, and rifled a shot towards the near post that went just wide. For the match the Sea Gulls outshot the Mustangs 26-2 including 14-1 in shots on goal. The Gulls also held a 17-2 corner kick advantage.

Flannelly posted his 11th win of the season for the Mustangs, as he had a superb performance with 14 saves on the day.

The Sea Gulls will now wait to see if they will advance to their third straight, and ninth overall, NCAA tournament. Brackets are scheduled to be released on Monday morning, check www.suseagulls.com for updates.