Members of the Salisbury University men’s lacrosse team found themselves in very familiar territory following Wednesday’s contest against Christopher Newport University. The maroon and gold are headed to the CAC Championship yet again.
This CAC semi-final matchup featured three of the top five scoring threats in the conference. Christopher Newport freshman Dylan Rice is fourth in the CAC in scoring, while Salisbury’s Melton and Ferrara are second and third, respectively.
It was a night to remember for Josh Melton specifically. The junior attackman registered his hundredth point of the season.
“It’s a huge accomplishment, but I give lots of credit to the rest of the offensive guys. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without them,” Melton said.
Also efficient on offense for Salisbury were sophomore Cross Ferrara and senior Zach Pompea. Ferrara finished with three goals and an assist, while Pompea netted four goals and added an assist.
After not starting the last two games for the Sea Gulls, Brandon Warren got the nod in goal on Wednesday.
Over the past couple of weeks, Warren has struggled in the cage for Salisbury. Especially crucial were a couple of failed clear attempts that turned into easy goals for York College of Pennsylvania two weeks ago.
Head coach Jim Berkman is confident that Warren’s play will improve as the Gulls get closer to the NCAA Tournament.
“I thought he had a really good game tonight,” said Berkman. “Hopefully he’s gotten out of that little slump that he had and he’s ready for the stretch run like he was last year.”
The Gulls are slated to travel to York College on Saturday to take on the Spartans in the CAC Championship game.
The last time these two teams faced off was back on April 17 at Sea Gull Stadium, where the Spartans handed Salisbury its only loss of the season up to this point.
Salisbury is well aware of the changes that need to be made for things to be different this go-around with York. An emphasis will be placed on taking care of the ball and clearing efficiently.
“Clearing will definitely be one of the biggest things for us, we just can’t afford to give them anything easy,” Melton said. “As we saw last time, if we don’t come out here and play our best, they’re going to beat us.”
As for Coach Berkman, he wants the offensive side of the ball be a little bit more productive than last time.
“They took us out of our game last time with matchups, I’d really like to see us be a little bit more consistent on offense.”
By TOMMY WEST
Staff writer
Featured photo: Midfield Brad Greik and Attack Josh Melton celebrate after a goal May 1 (Marshall Haas image).
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