SALISBURY, Md. – The second-ranked Salisbury University men's lacrosse team survived an early onslaught by the ninth-ranked Christopher Newport Captains to prevail 18-8 in the NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse Semifinals on Sunday and advance to the program's 19th national championship game.

BOX SCORE

PHOTOS

PRESS CONFERENCE

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Riding the momentum of yesterday's overtime thriller, CNU came out the gates hot. The Captains took the early 3-0 lead in the game's first five minutes behind goals by Jack Cook, Brady Altobello and Dylan Rice.
• Jarrett Bromwell responded with an unassisted goal to start the scoring for Salisbury at the 8:46 mark of the first. But minutes later, the Captains tacked on two more goals by Rice and Altobello to take the 5-1 lead with five minutes left in the first.
• Salisbury got back in the game with a three-goal run at the end of the first quarter, which was highlighted by a Josh Melton goal with five seconds left in the quarter to trim CNU's lead to 5-4 at the end of the first.
• Salisbury took charge in the second and third quarter and found its gear. The Sea Gulls scored 14 unanswered goals and blanked the Captains for 35 minutes to take control of the game, 15-5, after three quarters.
• During the Sea Gull flurry, Jack Dowd, Cross Ferrara, Melton and Bromwell each completed hat tricks.
• A man-up goal by Brady Altobello put the Captains back on the board with 14 minutes left in regulation. Less than 10 seconds later, Bromwell tacked on his fourth goal of the day.
• The two teams took turns scoring until back-to-back Salisbury goals by Isaac Thrasher and Melton ended the scoring for the Sea Gulls.
• With only 14 seconds left in the semifinals, Rice earned the Captains final goal of the day, bringing the game to the final margin, 18-8.

SALISBURY GAME NOTES

• Josh Melton tied a season-high with five goals. He also added an assist to total six points in the victory.
• Jarrett Bromwell put away four goals while Jack Dowd and Cross Ferrara added a hat trick each. Luke Nestor and Logan Posner each tacked on a goal in the victory.
• Pierre Armstrong dished out three assists on the day. Luke Harbottle, Jackson Woodward, Nestor and Dowd all added an assist as well.
• Brett Malamphy scooped up a game-high 12 ground balls after going 14-of-18 in the circle. Eoghan Sweeney and Woodward both grabbed four.
• T.J. Ellis, Kevin Murphy, and Bromwell grabbed three rollers.
• John DeFazio caused a game-high four turnovers for the Captains. Murphy and Brad Apgar each caused three errors.
• Ellis stopped seven shots in net.
• It is the 14th time and sixth consecutive game that the Salisbury defense held a team to single digits in goals.

CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT GAME NOTES

• Dylan Rice and Brady Altobello had a hat trick each.
• Coby Auslander collected a pair of assists.
• Sands grabbed a team-high four ground balls, Zac Hanway and Jackson Deal each grabbed three rollers in the contest.
• In net, Hanway saved eight shots.

UP NEXT

• With the victory, the Sea Gulls move on to the 19rh NCAA Championship game in program history.
• Salisbury will match up against the top-ranked RIT Tigers, on Sunday, May 30 at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field in East Harford, Conn.
• The game is scheduled for a 4 p.m. start time.