SALISBURY, Md. – With a masterful defensive showcase, the fifth-ranked Salisbury men's lacrosse program earned a spot in the Coastal Lacrosse Conference (CLC) final with an 18-5 victory over third-seeded Stockton in Wednesday evening's semifinal bout inside Sea Gull Stadium.
The Sea Gulls (15-3, 3-1 CLC) led after one quarter, 2-0 on the Ospreys (12-5, 2-2 CLC).
Trent Lucovich broke the ice with a solo score, then
Bret Bergey was spotted by
Connor Herraiz as the SU defense held Stockton scoreless through 15 minutes of action.
The duo of
Riley Strub and
Ryan Della did the heavy lifting for the Gulls in the following frame, aiding a 6-1 Salisbury quarter. After
Preston Huffman punched in his first of the night, Strub connected with Della three times in a row, ballooning the lead to 6-0 before the Ospreys got on the board.
Strub struck by himself not less than a minute later, then Herraiz quarterbacked the man-up unit, locating Lucovich to extend the edge to 8-1 at halftime.
The Sea Gulls ascended over the Ospreys' pair of goals in the third stanza, as Huffman found pay dirt twice in the segment, Strub set up Della for a fourth tally and
Charles Fritchman head-maned a fastbreak to deliver a feed to
Bryce Stevenson to create a pole goal.
Salisbury did not let up in the last session, igniting a 6-0 run before Stockton got the final two goals of the contest. Herraiz led off the party,
Blake Malamphy followed five seconds after, Della cashed in his fifth tally, Strub crossed paths with Lucovich for a hat-trick and
Brayden Velasquez distributed apples to Bergey and
Rory Callahan to conclude the offensive flurry.
GAME NOTES
- Ryan Della produced an explosive season-high five goals in his first start of the season on eight shots.
- Riley Strub was the primary facilitator for the Gulls tonight, potting a goal and dishing out a career-best five helpers.
- Trent Lucovich and Preston Huffman each notched hat-tricks.
- Connor Herraiz now sits two points behind the century mark for the campaign, logging a goal and two assists.
- Bryce Stevenson made his presence felt all over the field, scoring in transition and blanketing the Ospreys by picking up four grounders and causing four miscues.
- Jeremiah Stafford caused two turnovers and chased down a ground ball.
- Blake Malamphy found the back of the cage for the fourth time in five games, while going 17-for-21 at the dot with 13 ground balls. Charles Fritchman cleaned up eight ground balls and had a helper while going 3-for-4 on draws.
- Matt Sentowski saw a low volume of shots but made six saves on the night, earning his 14th win in 2025
- Salisbury advances to its 31st straight conference championship. The Sea Gulls are 27-3 in conference title games.
- The Sea Gulls outshot the Ospreys 52-26, won the ground ball battle 64-29, went 1-for-1 on their only man-up attempt and went 27-for-30 on clear attempts.
The Sea Gulls square up with top-seeded Christopher Newport in the CLC final on Sunday at Noon at Jennings Family Stadium in Newport News, Va. SU and CNU will face off for the sixth straight time in a conference title bout and fourth time since the inception of the Coastal Lacrosse Conference.
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.
