SALISBURY, Md. - The third-seed Salisbury University men's lacrosse team began its bid for a 15th straight Capital Athletic Conference championship on Monday with a 14-5 quarterfinal victory over sixth-seed University of Mary Washington at Sea Gull Stadium.

Salisbury (12-3), ranked No. 10 in the nation, advances to Thursday's CAC tournament semifinal game at St. Mary's City, Md., to face the second-seed St. Mary's (Md.) College Seahawks (11-4). The win snaps a two-game losing streak for the maroon and gold.

The Sea Gulls broke open a 5-2 halftime lead with a 5-0 run to begin the third quarter led by junior attackman Mike Winter who scored twice. This was the first time in three games that SU scored five or more goals in one quarter. That last time came against Mary Washington (8-7) during the regular season when SU scored six in the third quarter en route to a 14-5 win.

Salisbury posted its best shooting percentage (.326) in over a month as the Sea Gulls reached 14 goals for the 11th time this season.

Senior midfielder Patrick Bonanno scored three second half goals to pace the Sea Gulls who outscored the Eagles 9-3 in the second half. Juniors Jake DeLillo (one assist) and Mike Von Kamecke each scored twice while senior midfielder Kylor Berkman scored one goal and added a game-high three assists. Sophomore Shawn Zordani and freshman Matt Cannone were the other multiple point scorers with one goal and one assist.

SU scored four straight goals to begin the fourth quarter, two from Bonanno, before Mary Washington tacked on a final goal off the stick of Brent Fisk (two goals) with 18 seconds left. The final three goals scored in the game were man-up goals. UMW's Dan Coats added one goal and two assists in the loss.

Sophomore goalie Johnny Rodriguez picked up the win in the net for Salisbury as he made eight saves, caused one turnover and scooped up four ground balls. SU senior defenseman Kevin Maynard and sophomore defenseman Collin Tokosch combined to cause seven turnovers and scooped up eight ground balls for the Sea Gulls. UMW goalie Ryan Kleman suffered the loss as he stopped 14 shots.

Salisbury scored the game's first three goals as the Sea Gulls held a 3-1 lead after one quarter of play.

SU outshot UMW 43-25, scooped up 47 ground balls, made 17-of-22 clear attempts and scored three extra-man goals. Salisbury also won 16-of-22 face-offs behind the strong effort by junior midfielder Ryan Finch (14-for-20).