SALISBURY, Md. – The second-ranked Salisbury University men's lacrosse team stormed out of the gate to open the 2025 NCAA Division III Tournament, bouncing the St. Mary's (Md.) Seahawks 17-5 in second-round action on Saturday afternoon at Sea Gull Stadium.
The Sea Gulls now advance to the third round to face either 16th-ranked Dickinson or 17th-ranked Denison on Sunday evening, with opening faceoff from Salisbury pegged for 6:30 p.m.
After falling behind 2-1 early in the first quarter, the Sea Gulls closed the period with four straight goals to go up 5-2.
Riley Strub and
Ty Keaton combined to net all five of SU's tallies in the first.
Strub kept the run going with the first strike of the second quarter, then after back-to-back Seahawk goals to get within 6-4,
Michael Leahy went on a personal 3-0 run over the next two-plus minutes, netting a quick hat trick to build the Salisbury lead to 9-4. Joshua Martel clawed one back in the final minute of the half to get SMC within 9-5 at the break.
Connor Herraiz and
Lucas Ingley netted goals within 10 seconds of each other midway through the third quarter, then Herraiz fed
Ryan Della for back-to-back markers to put the Sea Gulls up 13-5 at the end of the period. Leahy led off the fourth quarter with his fourth goal of the game, and SU tacked on three more in the game's waning moments, sending the home side marching on by a 17-5 margin.
GAME NOTES
- Riley Strub and Michael Leahy each fired in four goals to pace the Sea Gull scorers in the win. Strub increased his 2025 goal total to 67 in the victory, extending his lead on the rest of the Sea Gulls to 15 goals.
- Connor Herraiz finished with five points on one goal and four helpers to surpass the 80-point mark on the season.
- Brice Bromwell dished out five assists in the tilt, moving within two points of Josh Bergey '03 for eighth in career assists.
- Blake Malamphy dominated at the dot, winning 20 of his 24 battles while digging out nine ground balls.
- John DeFazio also chased down nine ground balls in the victory, tying his prior career-high.
- Nicholas Ransom (20-0) recorded 11 saves over nearly 55 minutes in goal, including nearly all of a second-half clean sheet, on the way to improving to 61-1 in his career in the cage. His 11 stops helped the graduate net-minder jump to fourth in program history in career saves (491), surpassing Scott Bentkowski '91.
- With Saturday's win, the Sea Gulls improve to 39-2 in the all-time series against St. Mary's (Md.), their former Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) counterpart.
The Sea Gulls will face either Dickinson or Denison with a chance to move onto next Saturday's national quarterfinals. Opening faceoff of Sunday's third-round game is slated for 6:30 p.m.
Salisbury University is a proud member of NCAA Division III with primary membership in the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference, along with affiliate membership in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (football, men's & women's swimming) and the Coastal Lacrosse Conference (men's lacrosse). With over 500 student-athletes in 23 varsity sports, SU is recognized as one of the nation's most competitive intercollegiate athletics programs regardless of division, featuring dedicated coaches and staff that foster excellence on and off the field. The Sea Gulls have won a combined 23 team national championships, 24 individual national championships, and 205 conference championships, and have produced 51 Academic All-Americans.
To Make Tomorrow Yours at Salisbury University, and learn more about Sea Gull Athletics' tradition of excellence, visit www.SUSeaGulls.com or follow on social media @SUSeaGulls.
