SALISBURY, Md. - The No. 4 Salisbury University
men's lacrosse team defeated No. 18 Lynchburg 14-9 in
front of 825 at Sea Gull Stadium on Saturday afternoon. With the
victory, the Sea Gulls now have a six-game winning streak over
Lynchburg and are 16-1 all-time in the series.
The Hornets (0-1) were able to get on the board first, with an
unassisted goal by Austin Jeter (two goals) just a minute and
forty-three seconds into the game. The Sea Gulls (2-0) would even
things up a minute later, with senior attackman Mike Winter (Port
Washington, N.Y.) scoring off an assist from sophomore
midfielder Sam Bradman (Canton,
N.Y.) for Winter's first goal of the year. The Sea
Gulls would close out the quarter with a pair of goals just 37
second apart, receiving scores from Bradman and freshman
attackman Eric
Law (Centennial, Colo.).
SU would open up the scoring in the second quarter with a goal
by sophomore attackman Matt Cannone (Bayport,
N.Y.), before the Hornets countered with a goal of
their own to close the score to 4-2. The SU offense came alive from
that point on, as the Gulls scored seven-straight goals to end the
half, including an unassisted goal by Cannone just as time expired.
"In the first-half, we were really disciplined on offense," said
22nd year head coach Jim Berkman. "We
didn't take shots from outside six yards, and that was our
game plan coming in to today."
The Sea Gulls would strike first in the third quarter with
another goal by Winter with 13:34 remaining in the quarter. Over
the next 11 minutes, Lynchburg went on a run of its own, as it
scored four-straight goals to bring the score to 12-6 with just
1:54 remaining in the quarter. After the Gulls won the ensuing
face-off, Law contributed with an unassisted goal to put an end to
the run and cut down on the momentum the Hornets had been gaining.
The maroon and gold scored just one goal in the fourth quarter as
they opted to spread the field and run some time off the clock.
Winter led all scorers with five goals, which matches his
previous career-high for goals that he set on March 17, 2009
against Colorado College. Bradman (three goals, two assists) and
Cannone (four goals, one assist) each had their second-straight
five-point performance.
On the defensive side, seniors Connor Burgasser
(Mendon, N.Y.) and Will Poletis (Baltimore,
Md.) led the way as they each caused two turnovers and
picked up four and three ground balls, respectively. The SU defense
held Lynchburg's preseason third-team All-American midfielder Eddie
Bilinkas in check, as he was only able to garner one point in the
loss. The man-down unit played well as it held Lynchburg to just
1-of-5 on man-up opportunities. Junior goalkeeper Johnny Rodriguez
(Gambrills, Md.) finished with seven saves in the
game, including five in the first quarter.
For the second straight game, the Sea Gulls outshot their
opponents, this time with a 43-30 advantage and also held
a 37-30 ground ball advantage. SU was 23-of-27 on clears,
while the Hornets were 19-of-29 on clear attempts. Senior
Ryan Finch
(Finksburg, Md.) (11 ground balls) propelled the Gulls
on face-offs as he won 14-of-21 attempts.
The Sea Gulls will hit the road for a game at Widener
University, next Saturday at noon. SU is 6-0 all-time against the
Pride, including 2-0 in games played on the Widener campus.
