GREENSBORO, N.C. – The No. 1 Salisbury University men's lacrosse team opened its national championship defense with a 19-6 win at Greensboro College on Sunday.

Salisbury opened up the scoring with a goal from senior attackman Erik Krum on an assist from fellow classmate Matt Cannone. Greensboro answered with a goal to tie the game, 1-1, but the Sea Gulls came back with a 6-0 run, which lasted into the second quarter, and never looked back.

With a 7-2 lead in the second quarter, the Gulls (1-0) got a man-up tally from senior midfielder Kyle Quist on an assist from senior midfielder Sam Bradman before Bradman capped off the half with a goal of his own from senior Tony Mendes, who finished the game with two assists.

Salisbury took a 9-2 lead into the half.

At the break, Salisbury had a 17-9 edge in shots and was successful on 9-of-10 clearing opportunities.

Greensboro (0-1) started the second half with a score before the Gulls ripped off another six-goal run. Bradman started the stretch, which lasted the rest of the third quarter, with a goal to boost the lead to 10-3. Then, back-to-back scores by Krum gave the attackman a team-leading five for the game and Salisbury a 12-3 lead. 

The Gulls finished the quarter with three goals within one minute as junior midfielder Ryan Clarke scored another set of back-to-back goals, and Cannone added one more to give Salisbury at 15-3 lead going into the fourth quarter.            

Salisbury scored four more times in the final quarter.

Krum (five goals and one assist) and Cannone (three goals and three assists) led the team with six points apiece. Bradman finished with five points off of three goals and two assists.

The Sea Gulls also received goals from sophomore midfielders Sean Fitzgerald, Greg Korvin and Tim Stone, senior attackman Matt Pierotti and freshman midfielder Ryan Lucey.

Sophomore goalkeeper Alex Taylor picked up his first career win with eight saves during the game.

The Gulls finished the game with 48 total shots to Greensboro's 20 and converted 21-of-22 clears.

Senior defensive midfielder Parker Dickerson led the defensive effort, with a team-high three caused turnovers while scooping up a pair of groundballs.

The Sea Gulls' next game is the team's home opener at Sea Gull Stadium on Saturday against No. 8 Lynchburg College. The game is set to start at 1 p.m.