SALISBURY, Md.- The top-ranked Salisbury University men's lacrosse team hosted Methodist University and took down the visiting Monarchs by a 21-2 final on Saturday afternoon.

Marking only the second Division III lacrosse game to be played this season, Salisbury scored early and often to put Methodist out of reach early. The win also saw five Gulls notch their first career goals in the maroon and gold, including three freshmen.

Garrett Reynolds got things going just over a minute into the contest as he beat his defender one-on-one and got his shot off before the slide came to mark the team's first tally of the year. Reynolds ended the game with two goals and one assist while linemates Brendan Bromwell (two goals and two assists) and Corey Gwin (two goals) showed up big in their first game together on the team's top midfield line.

Ahead 2-0, Kyle Richbourg put one in the back of the net at 11:45 which would stand as the game-winning goal just 3:15 into the contest. At the end of the first quarter the Sea Gulls had worked their lead up to 7-0 and it was highlighted by a pair of goals just eight seconds apart. First Gwin swept from right to left over the top of the defense before finding twine. On the ensuing faceoff, T.J. Logue won it forward to himself and called his own number, beating the keeper high from 12 yards out.

Salisbury was dominant at the faceoff X all game as it went 20-for-25 with Duncan Campbell going 12-for-14, and Logue 7-for-10 to make up the bulk of the team's draws. In all, Salisbury dominated all groundballs, getting 50 to the Monarch's 19.

The Gulls increased on their first quarter goal tally as they put home eight in the second quarter, including three first time scorers for the squad. The first to get his initial score was junior Cory Berry as Nathan Blondino found the long pole on the crease and he put it away to make the score 10-0. Next, senior Adam Huber beat his guy down the right alley before burying the unassisted tally. The 14th goal came as the Gulls disputed the Methodist clear and freshman Josh Melton found Griffin Moroney on the doorstep for a pair of first-career points.

Blondino was the Gulls' leading facilitator with three assists and added a goal. Melton and Moroney would both get two goals in their debut, while Melton added three helpers to tie Blondino.

Melton started off the scoring in the second half, cutting from X to his left hand and finishing to bring the score to 16-0. He and Carson Kalama both scored twice in the quarter. Kalama finished the game with four goals and two assists as the team's leading scorer.

Two freshmen scored in the fourth to make the score 21-0. Pierre Armstrong got his first career goal before Moroney added another.

Salisbury took the shutout down to the final two minutes as the Monarchs scored at the 2:00 and 00:10 marks to end the scoring on the day.

Senior Colin Reymann got the nod in net and was not required to make a save in the opening half that he played, yet still picked up the victory.

In front of the four goalies who played for Salisbury, Aaron Leeds led the way defensively with five caused turnovers and four groundballs. Andrew Ternahan led the team in groundballs with six, while also adding an assist as he stripped a Monarch player in the defensive zone and went coast to coast before hitting Kalama on the crease who buried it.

Salisbury outshot Methodist 65-7 and was able to go a perfect 23-for-23 on clears, while forcing the Monarchs to go just 14-for-30 on clears. The Sea Gulls posted 21 caused turnovers in the game as the visitors turned the ball over 35 times, while Salisbury had 13 miscues of its own.

Salisbury returns to action in a week on Saturday, February 11 with a road contest against Lynchburg College at 12 p.m.