SALISBURY, Md. – The No. 2-ranked Salisbury University women's lacrosse team captured the program's 10th overall (eighth consecutive) Capital Athletic Conference championship on Friday afternoon at Sea Gull Stadium as the Sea Gulls defeated the No. 18-ranked University of Mary Washington, 18-9. The victory today earns Salisbury an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament.

Salisbury opened up scoring in a big way, netting three-straight goals in a matter of less than two minutes. The Eagles battled back, though, scoring three-in-a-row of their own to tie up the contest with 23:16 left to play in the first half. The Sea Gull offense was undeterred, going on an eight-goal scoring run before the Eagles' Catherine Kennedy notched Mary Washington's fourth and final goal of the half with 45 seconds remaining on the clock. As the halftime horn sounded, Salisbury led Mary Washington by a score of 11-4.

The maroon and gold's seven-goal advantage would only grow as the second half progressed. Junior attack Logan Bilderback, who netted four goals in the first half, tacked onto her scoring total with 17:44 left to play in the game as one of her shots found its way past Eagle goalkeeper Leigh Ann Redefer (17 saves). Bilderback finished with a game-high five goals, which was also a career-high for the Arnold, Md., native.

In addition to Bilderback's impressive goal tally, four Sea Gulls netted two goals in the victory: senior Kim Cudmore (Bel Air, Md.), juniors Trish DiGirolomo (Davidsonville, Md.) and Aileen McCausland (Phoenix, Md.), and sophomore Allie Wheatley (Cambridge, Md.). Junior goalkeeper Julie Ann Caulfield (Drexel Hill, Pa.) earned the win for the Gulls, playing just shy of 43 minutes in the cage and making four saves. Freshman keeper Keli Berkman (Salisbury, Md.) also saw playing time, but Salisbury's solid defense made her job easy as she was not forced to make any saves. One highlight of the game came in the first half with 4:31 left on the clock, as freshman midfielder Kara Koolage (Annapolis, Md.) ripped a shot off of a Cudmore assist to net her first career goal.

The win isn't the first time that Salisbury (17-1) has defeated Mary Washington (11-5) this season; back on April 14, the maroon and gold defeated the Eagles by a score of 18-12. Salisbury will now await the announcement of the field of competition for the NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse Tournament, which is set to begin on May 12.