Salisbury Beats Another "One"; Handle TCNJ
from press releases
SALISBURY, Md. - The No. 2 Salisbury University
women's lacrosse team defeated their second No. 1 team this season
as the Sea Gulls defeated top-ranked The College of New Jersey,
11-6, on a cold and rainy Saturday at Sea Gull Stadium.
Junior Beth Rhodey, the reigning Capital Athletic Conference
Women's Lacrosse Player of the Week, scored a game-high five goals
and added one assist to pace the Sea Gulls (14-1). Senior Robyn
Bishop (one assist) netted three goals, two in a pivotal 4-0 run to
begin the second half where SU jumped out to a 9-4 lead with 15
minutes left in the game.
Salisbury's defense rose to the challenge against one of the top
scoring teams in the country. Senior goalie Sonja Stuart (13-1)
matched her season-high save total with 11 stops against the Lions.
She made 11 saves against third-ranked Franklin & Marshall
College on March 29. Senior Sarah Maggio and junior Maddie Goetz
led the defense in front of Stuart as they held TCNJ's leading
scorer Alison Jaeger (42 goals for the season) to one assist.
TCNJ (10-1) entered the game with the No. 1 defense in Division III
with a 5.67 goals against allowed per game but surrendered a
season-high 11 goals to Salisbury. Sophomore goalie Mary Waller
suffered the loss in between the pipes for the Lions as she made
five saves.
Rhodey scored the game's first two goals just four minutes and 18
seconds into the contest. TCNJ responded with three straight goals,
two from Robin Deehan (four goals), to take a 3-2 lead. That was
the only lead for the Lions in the game. SU scored three of the
final four goals of the half to take a 5-4 lead into the half.
Salisbury's three goals came from seniors Ashleigh Gender, Bishop
and Courtney Sorenson.
Salisbury outscored TCNJ 6-2 in the second half as Bishop scored
twice and Rhodey netted three. The other goal was scored by
sophomore Meagan Osipowich.
The Sea Gulls outshot the Lions 22-20, scooped up 22 ground balls
and made 16-of-22 clear attempts as the maroon and gold received a
strong team effort in the win. SU scored three free position goals,
all in the second half. TCNJ won 10-of-19 draw controls.
This is Salisbury's third straight win over TCNJ in a series that
has been dominated by the Lions. In the past seven matchups SU has
won four. TCNJ won the previous 19 meetings as the Lions hold a
21-5 record against Salisbury. TCNJ had to forfeit a game against
SU in 1992.
The victory completes a sweep of last year's final four teams.
Salisbury beat defending national champion Hamilton College 12-9 on
March 18 in San Antonio, Texas. The Continentals were ranked No. 1
in that game. SU followed that with a 10-9 road win over No. 3
Franklin & Marshall College on March 29.
