Tourney Bound: Salisbury Makes it Official
from press release
SALISBURY, Md. – The No. 2-ranked Salisbury
University women's lacrosse team captured the program's 10th
overall (eighth consecutive) Capital Athletic Conference
championship on Friday afternoon at Sea Gull Stadium as the Sea
Gulls defeated the No. 18-ranked University of Mary Washington,
18-9. The victory today earns Salisbury an automatic bid into the
NCAA tournament.
Salisbury opened up scoring in a big way, netting three-straight
goals in a matter of less than two minutes. The Eagles battled
back, though, scoring three-in-a-row of their own to tie up the
contest with 23:16 left to play in the first half. The Sea Gull
offense was undeterred, going on an eight-goal scoring run before
the Eagles' Catherine Kennedy notched Mary Washington's fourth and
final goal of the half with 45 seconds remaining on the clock. As
the halftime horn sounded, Salisbury led Mary Washington by a score
of 11-4.
The maroon and gold's seven-goal advantage would only grow as the
second half progressed. Junior attack Logan Bilderback, who netted
four goals in the first half, tacked onto her scoring total with
17:44 left to play in the game as one of her shots found its way
past Eagle goalkeeper Leigh Ann Redefer (17 saves). Bilderback
finished with a game-high five goals, which was also a career-high
for the Arnold, Md., native.
In addition to Bilderback's impressive goal tally, four Sea Gulls
netted two goals in the victory: senior Kim Cudmore (Bel Air, Md.),
juniors Trish DiGirolomo (Davidsonville, Md.) and Aileen McCausland
(Phoenix, Md.), and sophomore Allie Wheatley (Cambridge, Md.).
Junior goalkeeper Julie Ann Caulfield (Drexel Hill, Pa.) earned the
win for the Gulls, playing just shy of 43 minutes in the cage and
making four saves.
Freshman keeper Keli Berkman (Salisbury, Md.) also saw playing
time, but Salisbury's solid defense made her job easy as she was
not forced to make any saves. One highlight of the game came in the
first half with 4:31 left on the clock, as freshman midfielder Kara
Koolage (Annapolis, Md.) ripped a shot off of a Cudmore assist to
net her first career goal.
The win isn't the first time that Salisbury (17-1) has defeated
Mary Washington (11-5) this season; back on April 14, the maroon
and gold defeated the Eagles by a score of 18-12. Salisbury will
now await the announcement of the field of competition for the NCAA
Division III Women's Lacrosse Tournament, which is set to begin on
May 12.
