Owings Mills, MD - 12th ranked Villa Julie
(8-3, 4-1) hosted #1 Salisbury (13-0, 6-0) in a nail-biting match.
The Salisbury Seagulls took the game with a score of 13-12. This
was the first CAC loss for the Mustangs as the Seagulls remain
undefeated in regular season and conference play. Villa and
Salisbury were matched in shots, taking 40 each, while Villa
tallied 38 groundballs to Salisbury's 35.
Salisbury opened the game with a fast goal at the 14:25 mark by
Greg Titus. The Seagulls dominated the first quarter and continued
to score five additional goals, four of which were scored in the
last three minutes of the quarter. The Mustangs remained scoreless
going into the second quarter trailing 6-0.
Villa entered the second quarter ready to govern the field. Just as
the Seagulls had gone a six goal run, the Mustangs decided to do
the same. Greg Furshman put the Mustangs on the
board at 13:07 with an assist from Steve Kazimer.
Furshman then capitalized on a man-up opportunity
and scored again, this time with the assist coming from
Richie Ford. Defenseman Mike
Gustowarow brought the ball from the defensive end of the
field straight to goal where he tallied an unassisted goal at 6:06,
followed thirty seconds later by another Furshman
goal assisted by Nicola Bevacqua. In the last
minutes, Furshman scored his fourth goal and
Bevacqua scored a man-up goal to tie the game at 6-6.
In the third quarter, Salisbury tallied two goals at 13:45 and
12:18 to gain the lead 8-6. Kazimer managed
to narrow the gap with a goal at 10:14. Salisbury retaliated
with one more before Villa scored four consecutive goals in a four
minute span, beginning at 8:12 with a goal from
Bevacqua. Ford tied the game for
the second time with 7:35 remaining. Furshman
earned the lead for the Mustangs at 4:31, followed closely by a
Chris Baldwin goal at 4:22 to extend their lead to
11-9. However, the Seagulls added a final goal with eighteen
seconds remaining in the quarter, going into the final period with
the Mustangs leading 11-10.
Bevacqua widened Villa's lead with a goal
assisted by Ford only twenty seconds into the
fourth quarter. However, Salisbury proved their ranking as they
scored three goals to take the eventual win 13-12.
Mustang goalie Eric Fleegle played impressively
with 13 saves and displayed leadership on the field, making many
key decisions and plays. Furshman led Villa with
five goals and one assist. Also contributing to the Mustang score
was Bevacqua with three goals and one assist;
Kazimer with one goal and four assists;
Ford with one goal and two
assists; Baldwin and
Gustowarow with one goal; and Drew
Brady with one assist.
The Mustangs are back in action when they travel to CAC oppenent
Marymount on April 9 fora 3:00 p.m. match.
