BETHESDA, Md. -- Fifth-ranked Salisbury grabbed a neutral-site win on Sunday at Landon School, 13-7 against Ohio Wesleyan.
Junior midfielder Sean Fitzgerald broke out for the Sea Gulls with four goals in the game, while sophomore midfielder Thomas Cirillo and senior attackman Luke Phipps each chipped in with two goals.
OWU opened the scoring with a goal just 53 seconds into the game, but Salisbury answered with four consecutive scores.
Phipps tied the game at 1, running from behind and around the right side of the crease for his first goal.
Fitzgerald followed with his first two goals, ripping a shot from the left wing at the 10:15 mark, before driving left and netting a low score with 5:42 left in the first quarter.
Scores from freshman attackman Nathan Blondino and senior midfielder Greg Korvin sandwiched an Ohio Wesleyan goal, giving SU a 5-2 lead heading into the second.
With a man-up opportunity in the first part of the second quarter, Fitzgerald netted his third on a shot at the crease at the 9:44 mark, taking a pass from Korvin.
In the remainder of the half, the Sea Gulls and Battling Bishops traded two scores each, with Cirillo and junior attackman Mike Kane scoring for Salisbury, and the Gulls took an 8-4 lead into the break.
At the half, Ohio Wesleyan was leading in face-off wins, 11 of 13, but Salisbury led in shots 25-11, while holding OWU to only 6 of 11 clears and forcing more turnovers, 14-5.
The Sea Gulls opened the second half with a four-goal run, beginning with Phipps running from behind the cage and around the right side for his second. Less than a minute later, Cirillo tallied his second after picking up a ground ball in front of an open goal.
Fitzgerald scored his fourth on the crease, after a pass from behind by senior attackman Rhett DePol, and senior long-stick midfielder Zeke Smith followed 59 seconds later, ripping a goal from 20 yards out, pushing the lead to 12-4.
Two Battling Bishop goals in the final minute of the third quarter and another OWU goal in the fourth cut SU's lead to five, but DePol scored to cap the win with the final score 13-7.
Senior Alex Taylor played 58:41 in the cage, making 11 saves to improve his record to 6-0. Taylor is now No. 6 on the all-time saves list with 437, passing Mike Sparr.
