SALISBURY, Md. - The second-ranked Salisbury University women's lacrosse team gutted out a 17-14 win over the No. 23 Christopher Newport Captains on Saturday in a back-and-forth battle of the two top teams in the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference (C2C).

BOX SCORE

HOW IT HAPPENED

• CNU scored the first 39 seconds in the game but Salisbury answered back with a three-goal run with two strikes from Lauren Valenti off Alexis Strobel assists and a Lydia McNulty goal. 

• CNU answered back with two goals from Kendall Krause and Cat Leighty to tie the game at three with 18:48 remaining in the first. 

• Another Salisbury run with goals from Strobel, Camryn Pepper and Delaney Hill to push the lead back to three, 6-3, with 13:34 left in the first half.

• CNU tied the game at six with two goals from Zoe Dyer and one from Krause.

• After the two teams traded goals, Salisbury netted back-to-back goals 20 seconds apart from Strobel and Riley Hartman with just over a minute left in the first.

• CNU won back-to-back draws after the final Salisbury goal of the first half and connected with a pair of goals from Dyer and Sam Wettengel to nod the game up nine at halftime.

• Salisbury came out of the halftime break with four straight goals, including two shorthanded goals from Erin Scannell and Strobel.

• The Captains answered the Sea Gulls run with four goals of their own from Lindsay Connell, Julia Lapicca and two from Krause to tie the game back at 13 with 16:59 left in regulation.. 

• Salisbury regained the lead with a three-goal flurry with markers from McNulty, Pepper and Hanzsche to put Salisbury ahead 16-13.

• After Gracie Sanders trimmed the Salisbury lead down to two, Lauren Valenti sealed the game with a goal on a Strobel assist to give Salisbury the 17-14 conference victory.

SALISBURY GAME NOTES

• Alexis Strobel led the team with four goals and four assists. Strobel also collected four ground balls.

• Lauren Valenti and Camryn Pepper both tallied hat tricks for the Sea Gulls. 

• Riley Hartman and Elizabeth Hesen paced the defense with two caused turnovers apiece.

• Erin Scannell collected a team-high nine draw controls.

• Mary Claire Hisle recorded five saves in the first half.

• Kaitlyn Hunsinger collected four saves in the second half and earned the win for the Sea Gulls. 

• Salisbury led 18-15 in the draw circle and 20-9 in ground balls.

CNU GAME NOTES 

• Zoe Dyer led the scoring for the Captains with five goals. 

• Cat Leighty dished out a team-high five assists. 

• Sam Wettengel collected a game-high 10 draw controls.

• Becca Creekmore recorded 12 saves in net for CNU. 

UP NEXT

• The Sea Gulls will head north to Bethlehem, Pa. to take on the Moravian Greyhounds on Friday, April 9.. 

• The non-conference game is set to begin at 5 p.m.