GRANTHAM, Pa. – Trailing 11-10 with under seven minutes to play, the third-ranked Salisbury University women's lacrosse team scored twice in 54 seconds and locked down the Messiah University Falcons for the remainder of the game to secure a 12-11 win on Wednesday evening at Witmer Family Lacrosse Stadium.
The Falcons (2-2) put up three of the first four tallies of the contest to grab control in the early going, until the Sea Gulls (5-0) netted the next three goals of the affair to lead 4-3 at the end of the opening quarter. After assisting
Grace Milliron's score,
Julianna Ott found the back of the cage, then
Miranda Mears and
Avery Dunbar got on the board to give the visitors the lead.
Salisbury kept the pedal to the metal to start the second stanza, scoring four more goals unanswered. Milliron, Mears and Ott found twine for the second time, and
Audrey Harrington found pay dirt during the nine-minute stretch that saw the Gulls go ahead 8-3. A three-goal streak by Messiah ensued afterwards to make it 8-6 at the half.
The Maroon and Gold extended the advantage again with Ott and Hackett getting shots to go in just over a minute of elapsed time, but Hayley Lettinga of the Falcons potted a pair on the opposite end to keep it a two-goal margin.
Messiah got into the driver's seat with 7:17 remaining by scoring three in a row in the fourth frame. Hackett answered back on a free-position shot, and Dunbar connected with Mears to put SU back in front. With two minutes to play,
Jaclyn Bange denied Grace Pettitt to preserve the Salisbury lead.
The Falcons got one final possession, but the Sea Gulls' defense held strong.
GAME NOTES
- Julianna Ott paced the offense, netting three goals and dishing out an assist.
- Miranda Mears (3G) and Lauren Hackett (2G, 1A) each recorded three points. Mears scored her seventh career game-winning goal.
- Grace Milliron tallied her first two-goal game since May 3, 2023, against Warren Wilson.
- Lauren Wunder led the defense with three ground balls and two caused errors.
- Paige Ellis made five saves and Jaclyn Bange made a stop in the fourth quarter in relief and earned her first win of the season.
- The Sea Gulls outshot the Falcons 28-25, won the ground ball battle 11-5 and went a perfect 15-for-15 on clears.
The Sea Gulls host their One Love Game on Saturday against Shenandoah at noon inside Sea Gull Stadium.
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), Coastal Lacrosse Conference (men's lacrosse), State University of New York Athletic Conference (field hockey), and Colonial Women's Golf Conference (women's golf). 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 207 conference championships, and have produced 54 Academic All-Americans.
To Make Tomorrow Yours at Salisbury University, and learn more about Sea Gull Athletics' tradition of excellence, visit SUSeaGulls.com or follow on social media @SUSeaGulls.
