| Kyle Moffitt helped lead Stevenson to its fourth
defeat of Salisbury since 2009. Stevenson athletics file photo |
Led by a season-high five points and four goals from senior Kyle Moffitt, the Stevenson men's lacrosse team earned the top seed in next week's CAC men's lacrosse tournament as the No. 3-ranked Mustangs posted a 16-12 victory over No. 2 Salisbury on Saturday at Sea Gull Stadium.
The win marked the second undefeated conference regular season in the last three seasons for Stevenson (15-1, 8-0 CAC), which extended its CAC regular season road winning streak to 14 games. The game was also part of the "Lax for Leukemia" event, in which over $14,000 was donated to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and the National Marrow Donor Program.
The Mustangs also improved to 3-3 at Sea Gull Stadium and 4-3 against the Sea Gulls since 2009.
With Stevenson's win over second-ranked Salisbury and Endicott's 9-8 victory over No. 1 Tufts on Saturday, the Mustangs have a good chance of being ranked at No. 1 in Monday's USILA Division III Poll, claiming the nation's top spot for the third consecutive season.
Stevenson scored the game's first five goals, two of which came from senior Jimmy Dailey, as the team built a 5-1 advantage at the end of the first quarter. Through 16 games this season, the Mustangs have outscored their opponents 71-19 in the opening quarter.
With three goals, Dailey now has 98 points this season, setting a school record and surpassing the old mark of 96 set by current assistant coach and two-time USILA Attackman of the Year Steve Kazimer.
Stevenson extended its lead to as many as six with 6:36 remaining in the second quarter on Moffitt's second goal of the game before Salisbury closed the half with three consecutive goals to pull within three at the half, 8-5.
After the Sea Gulls scored the first goal of the second half to cut the deficit to two, the Mustangs scored six of the next eight to push their lead back to six at 14-8 after the third quarter. Stevenson outscored Salisbury 11-4 over the first and third quarters.
The Sea Gulls (14-1, 7-1 CAC) opened the fourth quarter with three-straight goals to pull back within three, but that would be as close as they would get in suffering their first loss of the season and first at home since a 10-6 defeat to Stevenson in the CAC championship game on Apr. 24, 2010.
Senior Neal Barthelme finished with four points, including three goals and now has 55 for the season, four shy of the school record set by senior Richie Ford (Baltimore/Towson) who had 59 in 2008.
Barthelme was one of nine different goal scorers for the Mustangs, including Ford who had a goal and two assists and senior Ray Witte who also won 18-of-29 face-offs and totaled 11 ground balls with the 300th of his career. Witte now has 301 ground balls, 44 shy of Matt Smoot's school record.
In his first career appearance versus Salisbury, junior Ian Bolland totaled eight saves, including four in the fourth quarter while improving his record to 17-1 as a starter.
Saturday's game featured 98 combined shots and 27 penalties for
a total of 20:30.
Shawn Zordani and Sam Bradman each finished with four points for
the Sea Gulls while Tony Mendes had three goals. Johnny Rodriquez
made 15 saves.
Stevenson will host the winner of Sunday's CAC first round between Mary Washington and Hood next Wednesday at Caves Athletics Complex beginning at 4:00 p.m.