FREDERICKSBURG, Va. – On the strength of outstanding defense, and an overtime goal from senior Courtney Jantzen, the No. 7 Salisbury University field hockey team earned its 19th Capital Athletic Conference championship on Saturday afternoon, with a 2-1 victory at the University of Mary Washington.

The teams traded first-half scores, and the game remained deadlocked at 1-1 through the full 70 minutes of regulation. The Salisbury defense anchored by seniors Breck Sullivan and Amanda Cooper and juniors Jessie Todd, Hannah Miller and Annah Brittingham stood tall in front of sophomore goalkeeper Tressie Windsor throughout the contest.

The Eagles (14-5), the top seed in the tournament and ranked No. 11 nationally, got off eight shots in regulation, with Windsor stopping five of the six on target. In the extra time, the Sea Gull defense became stronger, giving up just three shots, and dealing with five minutes of playing seven-on-six, down a player, due to a yellow card.

Brittingham made a pair of defensive saves in the contest, with one coming late in regulation and the other nearly nine minutes into the second overtime, keeping the game alive and allowing for the heroics of Jantzen, with three minutes left in the second extra session.

It was Cooper that got the play started, racing down the left side before sending a cross in front of the net into a crowd of players. Jantzen emerged from the scuffle with the ball, set up and fired the ball into the right side of the goal to close out the game, her third game winner of the year, starting the Salisbury celebration.

The shot was the ninth in extra time for the Sea Gulls (14-3), who put five of those on target. Mary Washington goalkeeper Jessica Cavolt stopped six Salisbury offerings in the contest.

The chances came at both ends early in the game, with five first-half shots and at least three penalty corners for each team. It was the Eagles who struck first, getting the go-ahead goal from Christine Loehr in the 27th minute.

The lead lasted only seven minutes as senior Sam Johnson finished off a cross from Jessica Crew for the equalizer, just 57 seconds before halftime.

Neither team would score in the second half, with Salisbury, the tournament's No. 2 seed, not getting a shot off in the second 35 minutes. But the Salisbury defense held the back line and Windsor turned away seven shots in the game allowing for the excitement of Jantzen's goal.

With the victory, Salisbury earned the automatic qualification from the CAC into the NCAA Division III tournament, which begins next week. Salisbury will find out when and where it will begin competition on Monday, November 9 when the NCAA announces the brackets.