No. 4 Salisbury Starts Fast, Defeats No. 17 Lynchburg

SALISBURY, Md. - The No. 4 Salisbury University men's lacrosse team defeated No. 17 Lynchburg 14-9 in front of 825 at Sea Gull Stadium on Saturday afternoon. With the victory, the Sea Gulls now have a six-game winning streak over Lynchburg and are 16-1 all-time in the series.

The Hornets (0-1) were able to get on the board first, with an unassisted goal by Austin Jeter (two goals) just a minute and forty-three seconds into the game. The Sea Gulls (2-0) would even things up a minute later, with senior attackman Mike Winter (Port Washington, N.Y.) scoring off an assist from sophomore midfielder Sam Bradman (Canton, N.Y.) for Winter's first goal of the year. The Sea Gulls would close out the quarter with a pair of goals just 37 second apart, receiving scores from Bradman and freshman attackman Eric Law (Centennial, Colo.).

SU would open up the scoring in the second quarter with a goal by sophomore attackman Matt Cannone (Bayport, N.Y.), before the Hornets countered with a goal of their own to close the score to 4-2. The SU offense came alive from that point on, as the Gulls scored seven-straight goals to end the half, including an unassisted goal by Cannone just as time expired.

"In the first-half, we were really disciplined on offense," said 22nd year head coach Jim Berkman "We didn't take shots from outside six yards, and that was our game plan coming in to today."

The Sea Gulls would strike first in the third quarter with another goal by Winter with 13:34 remaining in the quarter. Over the next 11 minutes, Lynchburg went on a run of their own, as it scored four-straight goals to bring the score to 12-6 with just 1:54 remaining in the quarter. After the Gulls won the ensuing face-off, Law contributed with an unassisted goal to put an end to the run and cut down on the momentum the Hornets had been gaining. The maroon and gold scored just one goal in the fourth quarter as they opted to spread the field and run some time off the clock.

Winter led all scorers with five goals, which matches his previous career-high for goals that he set on March 17, 2009 against Colorado College. Bradman (three goals, two assists) and Cannone (four goals, one assist) each had their second-straight five-point performance.

On the defensive side, seniors Connor Burgasser (Mendon, N.Y.) and Will Poletis (Baltimore, Md.) led the way as they each caused two turnovers and picked up four and three ground balls, respectively. The SU defense held Lynchburg's preseason third-team All-American midfielder Eddie Bilinkas in check, as he was only able to garner one point in the loss. The man-down unit played well as it held Lynchburg to just 1 of 5 on man-up opportunities. Junior goalkeeper Johnny Rodriguez (Gambrills, Md.) finished with seven saves in the game, including five in the first quarter.

For the second straight game, the Sea Gulls outshot their opponents, this time with a 43-30 advantage and also held a 37-30 ground ball advantage. SU was 23 of 27 on clears, while the Hornets were 19 of 29 on clear attempts. Senior Ryan Finch (Finksburg, Md.) (11 ground balls) propelled the Gulls on face-offs as he won 14 of 21 attempts.

The Sea Gulls will hit the road for a game at Widener University, next Saturday at noon. SU is 6-0 all-time against the Pride, including 2-0 in games played on the Widener campus.

Score by Period 1 2 3 4 Tot
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Lynchburg........... 1 1 4 3 - 9
Salisbury........... 3 8 2 1 - 14