SALEM, Va. -  The third-ranked Salisbury University women's lacrosse team downed the eighth-ranked Denison Big Red, 20-10, in Saturday's semifinal to advance to the program's ninth NCAA Division III National Championship game.

BOX SCORE

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Salisbury and Denison traded tallies to start the game as Lydia McNulty netted the first goal of the game less than a minute into the contest.
• Denison answered the McNulty strike with a goal by Liza Farnham with 26:09 left in the first half.
• Anna Robinson and Camryn Pepper tallied back-to-back goals for the Sea Gulls. The Pepper goal was off an assist by Julie Talbert to extend the lead, 3-1, in the first six minutes of the game.
• Farnham buried a free position shot to bring the score within one, 3-2, with 23:47 remaining in the first.
• Salisbury went on another two-goal run with strikes coming from Lauren Valenti and McNulty to push the lead back to two, 5-2.
• Denison's Molly Fischer netted her first goal of the game on a free position opportunity to bring the game within two.
• Riley Hartman, Valenti and McNulty rounded out the first-half scoring for the Sea Gulls with three straight goals. Each of the goals was off assists from Alexis Strobel.
• Fischer scored the final goal of the half with 33 seconds left on the clock to cut the Sea Gull lead in half, 8-4, going into the second half.
• Both teams traded three-goal runs to start the second half until Salisbury jumped out to a 14-7 lead 10 minutes behind two man-up goals by Delaney Hill and Erin Scannell.
• Salisbury and Denison jockeyed for position throughout the second half before the Sea Gulls secured the win by scoring five of the game's six final goals to send the Sea Gulls to Sunday's final.

 SALISBURY GAME NOTES

• Lydia McNulty, Lauren Valenti, Erin Scannell and Riley Hartman all netted hat tricks in the win.
• Alexis Strobel dished out a game-high seven assists against Denison.
• Scannell won a team-high six draw controls
• Bri Held picked up a career-high six ground balls to pace the Sea Gull defense.
• Carrie Hesen caused a team-high three turnovers while scooping up three ground balls with three draw controls for the Sea Gulls.
• Mary Claire Hisle (5) and Kaitlyn Hunsinger (2) combined for seven saves in net.
• Salisbury edged Denison 17-14 in draw controls and 18-15 in ground balls.

DENISON GAME NOTES

• Casey McTague led the Big Red with three goals and four draw controls.
• Liza Farnham also tallied three goals to lead Denison's offense.
• Charlotte Godfrey paced the Denison defense with two ground balls and two caused turnovers.
• Caroline O'Dea tallied a game-high seven saves for Denison and Maeve Caldwell recorded two in goal.

UP NEXT

• Salisbury advances to the program's ninth national championship game.
• The Sea Gulls will face the Tufts Jumbos in Sunday's title game.
• The game is set to begin at 5 p.m.