GETTYSBURG, Pa. - The No. 9 Salisbury University women's lacrosse team took on Ithaca College in the third round of the NCAA tournament Saturday afternoon, defeating the Bombers 12-8.

The maroon and gold wasted no time getting their offense going as senior midfielder Gabbi Nieves slotted home her pass from Dana King to give the Gulls an early lead.

Salisbury tacked on a pair of strikes from junior Emma Wall before the Bombers' Morgan Cadwell responded with a tally of her own to cut the Gulls' lead to two, 3-1.

Following a solo strike from Krissy Murphy, sophomore Lindsey Wagner tallied her first of three goals on the day, extending the Gulls' lead to four at 5-1.

With time winding down in the first half both sides tallied a pair of goals to head into the half with the Sea Gulls up 7-3 over the Bombers.

At the break, Salisbury outshot Ithaca 11-9 with junior keeper Gianna Falcone notching five saves in the opening 30 minutes compared to Gettysburg's Kimberly Presuto's three saves.

The second half started exactly the same way as the first as King linked up with Wagner again for her hat trick, bringing the scoreline to 8-3 in favor of the Gulls.

A minute later Runyon tallied her second of three goals on the day, cutting the Gulls' lead to four with 27 minutes left in the contest.

Four minutes later King got herself on the score sheet after converting her streaking solo run to increase Salisbury's lead to five at 9-4, just 10 minutes into the second half.

At the midway point of the second half the Bombers went on a three-goal run to cut Salisbury's lead to 12-8. 

With time winding down in the contest the Gulls responded with a three-goal stretch of their own leaving the game's final scoreline at 15-8. 

Salisbury outshot Ithaca 25-21 in the game, with Falcone earning seven saves and the victory, improving to 14-5 on the season. Salisbury's defensive unit scooped up 15 ground balls, earned 12 draw controls and went 14-for-18 on clears for the contest.

The Gulls are back in action tomorrow, Sunday, May 21, as they play host Gettysburg College in the NCAA regional championship game. That game is set to begin at 2:30 p.m.