SALISBURY, Md. - The third-seed Salisbury University men's lacrosse team began its bid for a 15th straight Capital Athletic Conference championship on Monday with a 14-5 quarterfinal victory over sixth-seed University of Mary Washington at Sea Gull Stadium. Salisbury (12-3), ranked No. 10 in the nation, advances to Thursday's CAC tournament semifinal game at St. Mary's City, Md., to face the second-seed St. Mary's (Md.) College Seahawks (11-4). The win snaps a two-game losing streak for the maroon and gold.

The Sea Gulls broke open a 5-2 halftime lead with a 5-0 run to begin the third quarter led by junior attackman Mike Winter who scored twice. This was the first time in three games that SU scored five or more goals in one quarter. That last time came against Mary Washington (8-7) during the regular season when SU scored six in the third quarter en route to a 14-5 win. Salisbury posted its best shooting percentage (.326) in over a month as the Sea Gulls reached 14 goals for the 11th time this season.

Senior midfielder Patrick Bonanno scored three second half goals to pace the Sea Gulls who outscored the Eagles 9-3 in the second half. Juniors Jake DeLillo (one assist) and Mike Von Kamecke each scored twice while senior midfielder Kylor Berkman scored one goal and added a game-high three assists. Sophomore Shawn Zordani and freshman Matt Cannone were the other multiple point scorers with one goal and one assist.

SU scored four straight goals to begin the fourth quarter, two from Bonanno, before Mary Washington tacked on a final goal off the stick of Brent Fisk (two goals) with 18 seconds left. The final three goals scored in the game were man-up goals. UMW's Dan Coats added one goal and two assists in the loss.

Sophomore goalie Johnny Rodriguez picked up the win in the net for Salisbury as he made eight saves, caused one turnover and scooped up four ground balls. SU senior defenseman Kevin Maynard and sophomore defenseman Collin Tokosch combined to cause seven turnovers and scooped up eight ground balls for the Sea Gulls. UMW goalie Ryan Kleman suffered the loss as he stopped 14 shots.

Salisbury scored the game's first three goals as the Sea Gulls held a 3-1 lead after one quarter of play. SU outshot UMW 43-25, scooped up 47 ground balls, made 17-of-22 clear attempts and scored three extra-man goals. Salisbury also won 16-of-22 face-offs behind the strong effort by junior midfielder Ryan Finch (14-for-20).

Score by Period       1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Mary Washington.....  1  1  2  1 -  5
Salisbury...........  3  2  5  4 - 14
 
Attendance: 266
 
Mary Washington SCORING:
GOALS: Brent Fisk 2; Dan Coats 1; Brian Deal 1; Sean Brown 1.
ASSISTS: Dan Coats 2.
 
Salisbury SCORING:
GOALS: Patrick Bonanno 3; Jake DeLillo 2; Mike Von Kamecke 2; Mike Winter 2;
       Kylor Berkman 1; Shawn Zordani 1; Matt Cannone 1; Will Poletis 1;
       Erik Krum 1.
ASSISTS: Kylor Berkman 3; Matt Cannone 1; Jake DeLillo 1; Stephen Krasco 1;
         Shawn Zordani 1.
 
SHOTS BY PERIOD       1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Mary Washington.....  7  7  5  5 - 24
Salisbury........... 11 13 12  7 - 43
 
GROUND BALLS BY PRD   1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Mary Washington.....  7  6  7  7 - 27
Salisbury...........  8 14 12 13 - 47
 
FACE-OFFS BY PRD       1     2     3     4     Total
----------------------------------------------------
Mary Washington.....  3-5   0-4   1-8   2-5  -  6-22
Salisbury...........  2-5   4-4   7-8   3-5  - 16-22
 
CLEARS BY PERIOD       1     2     3     4     Total
----------------------------------------------------
Mary Washington.....  3-5   7-10  3-3   4-5  - 17-23
Salisbury...........  5-6   4-6   3-3   5-7  - 17-22
 
EXTRA-MAN OPPS         1     2     3     4     Total
----------------------------------------------------
Mary Washington.....  0-1   0-0   1-2   1-4  -  2-7
Salisbury...........  1-1   0-1   0-1   2-4  -  3-7
 
SAVES BY PERIOD       1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Mary Washington.....  4  4  5  1 - 14
Salisbury...........  3  2  1  2 -  8
 
TURNOVERS BY PRD      1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Mary Washington.....  6  7  3  7 - 23
Salisbury...........  4  6  1  7 - 18
 
Penalties - Mary Washington 7/5:00; Salisbury 7/5:30.

2009-04-13