SALISBURY, Md. - A fierce rainstorm could not
slow down the No. 2 Salisbury University women's lacrosse team on
Saturday afternoon under the lights at Sea Gull Stadium. The Sea
Gulls battled through the elements and defeated Catholic University
21-8 in a non-conference game before 125 rain-drenched fans.
Salisbury (6-0) came out of the gate strong and opened up a
five-goal advantage through the first 10 minutes of play. Junior
Jessica Chmielewski netted two of her five goals
on the day in that span. Despite being down early, Catholic (3-1)
fought back and scored four of the games' next six goals.
Chmielewski scored two more goals and senior All-American
Sue Ackermann (five goals, two assists) added four
points on three goals and one assist before the half to give the
Sea Gulls a 12-5 advantage at the break.
The rain subsided in the second half and Salisbury settled in as
they outscored the Cardinals 9-3 to win by 13 goals.
Senior Robyn Bishop had a solid game for the
Sea Gulls on both sides of the field as she scored two goals and
led the team with four ground balls, four draw controls and four
caused turnovers. Sophomore Beth Rhodey (one
assist) and senior Alexis Morrell each chipped in
three goals apiece. The Sea Gulls had eight different goal scorers
in the win.
The Sea Gulls defense frustrated the Cardinals all day as
Catholic was only able to convert five clears out of 16 attempts.
Salisbury doubled up Catholic's shot totals 34 to 17 and won 16 of
31 draw controls. The Sea Gulls also had 25 ground balls and made
15-of-21 clear attempts.
Cardinal senior Marcy Cuneo was all over the field for Catholic
as she tallied four points (three goals, one assist), had five draw
controls, picked up two ground balls and caused two turnovers.
SU goalie Sonja Stuart improved her record to
6-0 this season as she made seven saves for the Sea Gulls in 59
minutes of action. CUA goalie Melissa Brashear suffered her first
loss of the season as she made eight saves.
The maroon and gold will head on the road for back-to-back
Capital Athletic Conference games this week with Marymount (Va.)
University and Villa Julie College. The Sea Gulls will face the
Saints on Monday, March 10 at 8 p.m. SU will then travel to VJC for
Tuesday's 3:30 p.m. afternoon game.
