Box Score

GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Corey O’Neil scored four goals and Justin Smith added a hat trick to lead top-ranked Salisbury over No. 5 Gettysburg 12-6 in non-conference men’s lacrosse action on Saturday.

 O’Neil scored late in the first half, then insured that the defending national champion Sea Gulls (11-0) would remain undefeated with three goals in the final quarter. The All-American defensive duo of Eric Martin and Jeff Bigas collected 12 ground balls and nine turnovers while holding the Bullets (5-2) scoreless on five and a half minutes of extra-man time.

 Chase Stewart (Downingtown, PA/Downingtown) led Gettysburg with three goals, his third hat trick in the last four games. Goalie Pat Vaughan (Cockeysville, MD/Loyola) matched his career high with 18 saves while enduring 48 shots from Division III’s highest scoring program.

 Showing the balance of a championship team, Salisbury got goals from seven different players, caused 17 turnovers, won two-thirds of the day’s face-offs and used 11 saves by junior goalie Dan Korpon to post its second straight victory over the Bullets.

 Sixty-five seconds after Stewart knotted the game at 1 midway through the first quarter, Andy Murray scored unassisted to touch off the Sea Gulls’ decisive 7-2 run.

O’Neil fed Andy Arnold to make it 3-1 before Jake Van Nostrand (Baldwin, NY/Baldwin) shook his defender with a nifty 1-on-1 move, then fired a shot past Korpon to pull Gettysburg within one.

 Andrew Reed stretched the lead to 4-2 early in the second quarter, but Vaughan prevented Salisbury from stretching its advantage with five straight saves. A three-minute non-releaseable penalty on Arnold opened the door for the Bullets, but the home squad managed only three shots and no goals during the extended extra-man chance.

 Moments after Arnold’s release, Bigas forced a turnover and O’Neil cashed in with an unassisted goal to make it 5-2.
 Matt Twombly (New Canaan, CT/New Canaan) struck with two seconds left in the half to pull Gettysburg within 5-3 at the break.

 The Sea Gulls, however, answered with goals from Scott Simmons, Smith and Mike Ricucci in the first 5:02 of the third quarter.

 Stewart scored twice to cut the deficit to 8-5, the latter goal coming with 22 seconds left in the quarter. Salisbury won the ensuing face-off and Smith netted a back-breaker to complete his hat trick with six seconds remaining in the period.

 O’Neil added a natural hat trick in a span of three minutes to push the lead to 12-5 in the game’s final minutes.
 The Sea Gulls won 14 of 21 face-offs on the afternoon, paced by Murray’s 12-for-17 performance at the “X”.

 Van Nostrand finished with one goal and one assist.

 The Bullets return to action on Saturday at third-ranked Washington (Md.). Game time is 1:30 p.m.
 

Score by Quarter	1	2	3	4	-	F
#1 Salisbury (11-0)	3	2	4	3	-	12
#5 Gettysburg (5-2)	2	1	2	1	-	6

Goals:

Salisbury: Corey O’Neil 4, Justin Smith 3, Scott Simmons, Andy Murray, Andy Arnold, Mike Ricucci, Andrew Reed.

Gettysburg: Chase Stewart 3, Jake Van Nostrand, Matt Twombly, Brian Ford.

Assists:

Salisbury: O’Neil, Murray, Simmons, Dan Boyer, Mike Edwards, Ryan Rohde.

Gettysburg: Van Nostrand, Alec Knight, Kevin Smith.

Shots: S 48, G 33.

Ground Balls: S 47, G 43.

Extra-Man: S 0 of 2, G 0 of 4.

Faceoffs: S 14, G 7.

Goalies: S (Dan Korpon – 60:00, 11 saves, 6 GA), G (Pat Vaughan – 55:55, 18 saves, 11 GA; James Desson – 4:05, 0 saves, 1 GA).

Turnovers: S 31, G 36.

Clearing: S 22 of 25, G 27 of 32.

Penalties: S 4 for 5:30, G 2 for 2:00.

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