NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – Senior
Blake Malamphy reached 1000 career draw victories in No. 6 men's lacrosse's tilt with fourth-ranked Christopher Newport; however, the Captains took the battle for the top seed in the Coastal Lacrosse Conference, 12-9 at Jennings Family Stadium on Saturday.
The Sea Gulls (12-3, 3-1 CLC) got immediate juice from a Malamphy win forward, resulting in a goal from the FOGO in 12 seconds elapsed. 32 seconds later,
Preston Huffman weaved through traffic to give SU an early 2-0 advantage. The Captains (15-2, 4-0 CLC) responded fiercely, netting the next six goals of the contest, taking a four-goal edge into the second frame.
The Maroon and Gold reset the tone in the second stanza, outscoring CNU 6-1 to take a lead into the break
. Bret Bergey got the run started, dunking in a feed off a dodge from Huffman. After a defensive stand, Huffman muscled into the heart of the defense and placed a righty bouncer into the top left corner to inch the Sea Gulls closer.
After the Captains responded at the 4:12 mark, the Gulls worked the ball around the clock, eventually leading to
Connor Herraiz with space to get Salisbury back within two.
Trent Lucovich came down moments later and crept in to make it 7-6, CNU, then
Ryan Della converted man-up and Herraiz collected loose change stemming from a save with seconds remaining to deposit his second goal and give SU an 8-7 lead at the breather.
Christopher Newport posted the first three tallies of the second half before the Bergey cut the deficit back to one, but CNU found twine twice down the stretch, fending off the visitors despite Salisbury outshooting the Captains 11-9 in the final frame.
GAME NOTES
- Blake Malamphy went 22-for-23 from the dot with a goal and 18 ground balls. With his 19th win, the senior reached 1000 career face-off wins, making him the 11th player in DIII history to reach the milennium mark. Malamphy has compiled 44 wins on 48 attempts in the past two games with two tallies and 36 ground balls.
- Bret Bergey paced the offense with two goals and two helpers. The junior is averaging 4.5 points per game since being inserted into the starting lineup four games ago.
- Preston Huffman put two of his five shots in the back of the cage and dished out an assist.
- Connor Herraiz and Trent Lucovich logged two points each.
- Evan Huffman and Bryce Stevenson each caused three turnovers. Stevenson collected three ground balls while Huffman scooped up a pair.
- Matt Sentowski was tagged with the loss, making ten saves.
- The Sea Gulls outshot the Captains 55-22, won the ground ball battle 50-31, went a perfect 17-of-21 on clears and converted on 1-of-3 man-up tries.
The Sea Gulls returns home to face Baldwin Wallace on Tuesday at 4 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), 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.
