SALISBURY, Md. – The sixth-ranked Salisbury University men's lacrosse team scored 11 seconds into the game and never looked back, torching the 25th-ranked Roanoke Maroons 19-3 in the second round of the 2026 NCAA Division III Men's Lacrosse Tournament on Saturday afternoon at Sea Gull Stadium.
With the win the Sea Gulls will advance to Sunday's third-round matchup against the winner of Saturday night's game between No. 11 RIT and No. 23 Elmhurst. That game will be played in Sea Gull Stadium at 6 p.m.
Blake Malamphy got the Sea Gulls going with instant offense, winning the opening face-off and scoring with just 11 seconds gone by. The strike opened the floodgates on a quick six goals over the first eight minutes, including four straight from
Michael Leahy, and took a 6-0 lead out of the opening quarter.
One minute into the second quarter,
Bret Bergey kept the party rolling with his first goal of the game. SU netted two more before the Maroons finally broke up the shutout at the 2:22 mark of the period, but
Trent Lucovich answered less than a minute later and Leahy tacked on another, giving the Sea Gulls an 11-1 lead into the break.
Lucovich broke the ice out of halftime, netting one 12 seconds in on a feed from
Connor Herraiz. Roanoke countered with one to make it 12-2 after three, then
Charles Fritchman followed Malamphy's lead and scored off the opening faceoff in the fourth. SU outmuscled the Maroons 7-1 over the final period to lock down an easy 19-3 dub.
GAME NOTES
- Michael Leahy netted five first-half goals, including four in a row in a three-plus minute stretch in the middle of the first quarter. He now boasts 10 goals over his first three career NCAA Tournament games.
- Connor Herraiz notched eight points with two goals and six assists.
- Trent Lucovich netted a hat trick with one assist, while Joey Halloran scored a pair.
- Blake Malamphy went 12-for-17 on face-offs with six ground balls and scored the game's first goal of the game from the dot. With 1,066 career face-off wins, Malamphy now ranks eighth all-time in Division III history.
- Charles Fritchman posted a 5-for-7 mark on face-offs with one goal. He also led the team with seven ground balls.
- Jeremiah Stafford scooped up five ground balls.
- Cooper Keesee and Bryce Stevenson caused three turnovers each, while Michael DeSano added two CTs.
- Matt Sentowski registered four saves over 49-plus minutes in the cage, as well as five ground balls and one caused turnover.
- Collin Fohner handled the final 10-plus minutes in goal, registering three saves.
- Salisbury has now won at least one game in every NCAA Tournament since 1998.
The Sea Gulls will now prepare for either RIT or Elmhurst on Sunday at 6 p.m. A victory would send Salisbury into the national quarterfinals next Saturday against either Babson or St. Lawrence.
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 211 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.
