SALISBURY, Md. -- Giving the two-time defending national champions all that they could handle, the 16th-ranked Christopher Newport men's lacrosse team held a seven-goal lead early in the third quarter, but seventh-ranked Salisbury used a huge second-half run to steal a 12-11 victory during a third-round thriller in the NCAA Tournament on a sizzling Saturday evening at Sea Gull Stadium.
 
During the battle, Scott McAneney was simply sensational in the crease. The sophomore star pieced together an effort for the ages. He registered a career-high 19 saves, which equaled the third-highest single-game total in program history. He also grabbed three ground balls during a suffocating performance.
 
On the offensive end, Dylan Rice punctuated his freshman season with seven points, including five goals. With that performance, he tied Will Geise's single-season program record with 56 goals this year. Meanwhile, Matthew Crist contributed six points against the Sea Gulls, while Lucas Barry added his second straight postseason hat-trick.
 
With the setback, Christopher Newport wraps up the season with a 15-5 record, while Salisbury improves to 18-3 and advances to the Elite Eight for a bout with Dickinson on Wednesday.
 
Taking on the Sea Gulls for the third time this season, the Captains stood tall against the vaunted SU defense. At the very beginning, CNU bolted out to an early lead. Just over a minute into the contest, Crist opened the scoring with a low liner that burned through the keeper's legs. Later, he assisted on daggers by Rice and Barry to push the lead to 3-0 midway through the opening quarter.
 
Meanwhile, on the defensive end, Christopher Newport dug in. Christopher Albright forced an errant shot on SU's initial attempt before McAneney smothered a stick-side dart to clamp down on another rally. Later, CNU broke up back-to-back clear attempts by SU after Crist picked off a pass near midfield before Jake O'Connell buried a Sea Gull with a bruising hit.
 
Although Salisbury managed to cut its deficit down to one, McAneney stepped up again. He stoned a pointblank shot during a one-on-one attack, plucked another high dart out of the air, and made a kick save on a bounce shot late in the quarter.
 
With McAneney dominating on the defensive end, the CNU attack found its rhythm again. In the final 90 seconds, Barry found daylight along the far post off a feed from Jackson Deal before Crist skipped a long-range rope into the back of the net to grab a 5-2 lead after 15 minutes of action.
 
In the second stanza, Christopher Newport continued its assault. Beating a double-team on the far side of the field, Crist slipped the ball out to Rice, who dished it across to Will Stockhausen. Loading up, the freshman buried a screamer inside the left pipe to push the lead to four.
 
Remaining hot, Rice pieced together a run to remember. First, the freshman phenom intercepted a clearing feed and capitalized on the other end with his second goal of the contest. Later, facing a pair of SU defenders, he spun circles around the Sea Gulls on the far side of the field before depositing his third goal. Capping off his streak, he used a bounce shot to tattoo the back of the net with some assistance from Deal to push the lead to 9-2.

Although Salisbury added its third goal just before halftime, McAneney made one final save to keep the six-goal edge entering the break. After halftime, the defense continued to limit SU's opportunities. Wayne and Will Cogan both tipped shots early in the third quarter to close off the Sea Gulls' first opportunity of the second half.
 
Moments later, the defense set up Christopher Newport's 10th goal. After closing off Salisbury's attack, McAneney threaded a pinpoint pass that nearly traveled the entire length of the field to Barry. With the Sea Gulls on their heels, Barry found Rice, who broke out a beautiful pump fake to beat the goalie and snatch a 10-3 edge.
 
Continuing to do work on the defensive end, Crist forced an errant pass on a clear attempt before Miles Collins secured the roller. Later, McAneney made a save from his knees, ate up a low liner, and sniffed out a behind-the-back attempt to keep Salisbury in-check. Unfortunately, the Sea Gulls continued to battle.
 
Finding their rhythm, the hosts unleashed a rapid-fire assault to close the gap. Salisbury collected four straight goals at the end of the third quarter, including three in the final three minutes, to inch within four at 10-6. Although Phoenix Hines put a lid on the comeback for a moment after stripping a Sea Gull at midfield to open the fourth quarter, SU quickly regained its footing.
 
Unloading on the Captains, Salisbury opened the fourth quarter with four straight goals to grab its first lead of the game at 11-10. Needing to retaliate with five minutes left in regulation, Deal broke down a defender during a one-on-one match-up on the near side of the field before finding the back of the net. Sadly, the referees waved off the game-tying goal after calling a crease violation.
 
With the momentum stolen away, CNU watched Salisbury toss its 12th strike on the board with less than three minutes left to grab a two-goal edge.
 
Battling until the very end, Hines forced another turnover with just over a minute left to give Christopher Newport another opportunity. Taking advantage, Crist found Barry, who stung a man-up missile to inch back within one.
 
Unfortunately, Salisbury was able to hold off the Captains over the final 60 seconds to steal the come-from-behind victory.
 
Overall, Salisbury out-shot CNU, 44-27. The Sea Gulls also held a 35-31 edge in ground balls and won 18 of the game's 26 faceoffs. Tony Cruz secured all eight of CNU's faceoff victories and collected four ground balls. Saturday's action marked the 68th career appearance for Cruz and Albright, breaking the program's games played record set by Will Geise from 2013-17.
 
---CNU---