| Matt Cannone's fourth goal
was the game winner for Salisbury. Salisbury athletics photo |
Senior attackman Matt Cannone took a pass from junior midfielder Ryan Clarke and, with just 11 seconds remaining in the game, netted the game-winning goal to boost the No. 1 Salisbury men's lacrosse team past Capital Athletic Conference foe No. 4 Stevenson, 11-10.
In the final CAC regular season matchup between the two teams, the Sea Gulls found themselves trailing 9-3 with less than one minute remaining in the third quarter before ripping off a 7-1 run and mounting an improbable comeback. Stevenson is moving to the MAC next fall.
Senior attackman Tony Mendes and Cannone led the Gulls with four goals each in the game. The duo took charge of the Sea Gull offense in the final 16 minutes of the game to combine for five of the team's final seven goals.
Salisbury took the first lead of the game in the opening quarter. Mendes netted an unassisted tally to give the Gulls a 1-0 lead, a lead that they would carry into the second quarter.
The tide turned in the second period as the Mustangs ripped off four straight goals to take a 4-1 lead into halftime. One of the goals came from midfielder Nick Rossi who led Stevenson with three tallies in the game.
At the half, the game was mostly even with Salisbury leading at the faceoff X, winning four of seven faceoffs, but Stevenson outshot the Gulls, 17-15.
The Sea Gulls started the third quarter with goals from Cannone and senior midfielder Sam Bradman to bring the score back to within one at 4-3, but Stevenson added five more unanswered scores before Mendes ripped his second goal of the game with 45 seconds left in the period to start the Salisbury rally.
Cannone added one more goal with three seconds left in the third quarter to cut the Stevenson lead to 9-5 going into the fourth quarter.
In the fourth, two goals each from Cannone, Mendes and Clarke completed the Salisbury comeback. With his goals and assist to lead the Gulls with five points in the game, Cannone is now the sole owner of the No. 2 spot on Salisbury's all-time career goals list with 202 and No. 4 on the assists list with 124.
Salisbury outscored the Mustangs 6-1 in the fourth quarter while winning 6-of-7 face-offs and holding a 13-2 edge in shots. For the game, the Sea Gulls won 14-of-21 face-offs and outshot Stevenson 39-28, including 24-11 in the second half.
Sophomore goalkeeper Alex Taylor played all 60 minutes in the cage and made nine saves on the way to his 15th victory of the season.
Salisbury will return home for its next game as St. Mary's (Md.) comes to Sea Gull Stadium on Wednesday. The game is set for 7 p.m. Stevenson returns to action on Wednesday as the Mustangs host a CAC contest versus Frostburg State on Senior Day. Face-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.