Roanoke

Nine-time reigning national champion Salisbury is off to a 2-0 start, which includes a 16-9 victory over No. 11 Lynchburg. But the degree of difficulty will ratchet up at least a level (or three) when No. 2 Roanoke visits Sea Gull Stadium in Salisbury on Saturday. The meeting between the top two teams in the preseason poll released by the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association is a prime opportunity for the Sea Gulls to assess their progress thus far. “Our guys are always amped up to play the best teams on our schedule,” Salisbury coach Jim Berkman said.

When the NCAA tournament was unveiled late Sunday night, Dickinson - one of just two teams left in Division III with undefeated records - was the only team in the South region with a first-round bye. Roanoke got the next seed, and Stevenson was third, falling in line with the most recent regional rankings . It was what Mustangs coach Paul Cantebene anticipated. “It's a fair bracket,” he said Monday morning. “We're going to see good teams no matter what. So from what we did this season, we're in a very fair place.” Stevenson (17-2)

Stevenson is dealing with two losses: Tuesday night's 14-13 overtime setback to Roanoke and a shoulder injury to starting goalkeeper Dimitri Pecunes. Coach Paul Cantabene said Wednesday morning that the freshman suffered a sprained AC joint when he was tackled from behind on a clear attempt in the first quarter and fell on his shoulder. Cantabene said Pecunes is expected to be sidelined for at least one week and possibly as many as three. “So we don't know when we're going to get him back,” Cantabene said.

Paul Cantabene was not entirely sure how the Stevenson players would react after dropping a 14-13 overtime decision to Roanoke on Tuesday night. But as the No. 3 Mustangs prepare to dip back into Middle Atlantic Conference play with a visit from Albright this Saturday at Mustang Stadium in Owings Mills, the head coach is hoping that the team practices and plays with an undercurrent of anger. “I think we need to start playing a little more angrily,” Cantabene said Wednesday. “In my time here, this is one of our nicer teams.

SALISBURY -- Senior midfielder Ryan Murphy (Broadneck) had four goals as No. 3 Salisbury State edged No. 8 Roanoke, 14-13, before 1,000 in a Division III game originally scheduled at Loyola High School.Sean Radebaugh (Loyola) added three goals, including the score that broke a 10-10 tie and put the Sea Gulls (2-0) ahead for good.Roanoke goalie Craig Fleming, a two-time All-American from Annapolis, made 18 saves.The Sea Gulls led by 8-4, but the Maroons scored four straight to tie the game at 8 one minute into the third quarter.

Tyler Gilbert totaled three points (two goals and an assist) as Washington College bounced host Roanoke, 11-7, from the men's NCAA Division III lacrosse tournament for a second-straight season yesterday in Salem, Va., in a first-round game.Last year, the Shoremen eliminated the Maroons, 14-9, in the quarterfinals in Chestertown.The Shoremen (11-4) and the Maroons (8-6) each took 44 shots.The Maroons took a 2-0 lead in the first quarter on goals by Gregg Fasanaro and Bill Siciliano (Dulaney)

Richard Lachlan scored the game-tying goal with 1:20 left in regulation and then struck in overtime to lift the No. 16 Roanoke men's lacrosse team to a 14-13 victory over No. 3 Stevenson on Tuesday night at Kerr Stadium in Salem, Va. The Mustangs (11-2) suffered their first loss in three overtime games this season and the first since a 14-13 loss at Salisbury on May 23, 2010, in the semifinals of the NCAA Division III championship. Junior Chris Dashiell totaled a season-high six points with three goals and three assists for Stevenson, which saw its five-game winning streak end. Tuesday's game featured three ties and four lead changes.

Preseason speculation that St. Mary's could make some waves on the Division III national landscape appeared to gain momentum after the Seahawks opened the season with a 13-12 upset of No. 11 Roanoke on  Sunday. It's a rousing start for St. Mary's, but coach Chris Hasbrouck joked that it beat the alternative. “It's better than being 0-1,” he quipped Monday afternoon. “Obviously, it's a very good start. I think we played hard. We really didn't play that well. We had moments when we didn't do very well.

St. Mary's scored five straight goals to close out a 13-8 women's college lacrosse victory over host Roanoke yesterday in Salem, Va. The Seahawks pulled away after the Maroons rallied from five down to tie the score 8-8. Carol Schmoeller (Catonsville) had two goals and three assists for St. Mary's (6-1). The first of her three assists gave her 100 for her career. The Seahawks opened a 5-0 lead to start behind two goals each from Stacy Mann (Dulaney) and Karli Libertini (Catonsville) and one by Allyson Sarigianis (John Carroll)

Midway through the second quarter yesterday, the Roanoke College bench began chanting, "Not this year."The Maroons weren't about to forget last season's 9-8 lacrosse loss to Salisbury State on this same Loyola High field in Towson.The Sea Gulls (1-1) tried, but Roanoke's sophomore goaltender Craig Fleming of Severn stopped 20 shots during the final three quarters to help No. 11 Roanoke (2-1) beat No. 5 Salisbury State, 15-10.Last year, Salisbury rallied from an 8-6 deficit to win. Yesterday, after trailing 3-1 at the end of one quarter, the Sea Gulls seemed intent on another comeback.

Richard Lachlan scored the game-tying goal with 1:20 left in regulation and then struck in overtime to lift the No. 16 Roanoke men's lacrosse team to a 14-13 victory over No. 3 Stevenson on Tuesday night at Kerr Stadium in Salem, Va. The Mustangs (11-2) suffered their first loss in three overtime games this season and the first since a 14-13 loss at Salisbury on May 23, 2010, in the semifinals of the NCAA Division III championship. Junior Chris Dashiell totaled a season-high six points with three goals and three assists for Stevenson, which saw its five-game winning streak end. Tuesday's game featured three ties and four lead changes.

Stevenson is dealing with two losses: Tuesday night's 14-13 overtime setback to Roanoke and a shoulder injury to starting goalkeeper Dimitri Pecunes. Coach Paul Cantabene said Wednesday morning that the freshman suffered a sprained AC joint when he was tackled from behind on a clear attempt in the first quarter and fell on his shoulder. Cantabene said Pecunes is expected to be sidelined for at least one week and possibly as many as three. “So we don't know when we're going to get him back,” Cantabene said.

After defeating three Middle Atlantic Conference opponents, Stevenson breaks up its league slate with a non-conference tilt with Roanoke Tuesday night. The game was initially scheduled to be played at Mustang Stadium in Owings Mills on Wednesday, March 6, but a storm forced the contest to be postponed. Finding a later date proved impossible until Stevenson offered to travel to Salem, Va., and both sides agreed to Tuesday night at Donald J. Kerr Stadium. “We wanted to keep the game,” Mustangs coach Paul Cantabene said Monday.

After a shocking 1-2 start, Salisbury has strung together five consecutive wins and risen to No. 7 in the latest United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association poll. A good deal of the 10-time national champion's reversal can be traced to the play of the defense. Over that span, opponents have scored just 19 goals, which averages out to just 3.8 goals per game. Widener, which averages 10.2 goals, was limited to five in a two-goal loss on Feb. 23. No. 10 Gettysburg, which averages 11.2 goals, was held to five in a three-goal setback on March 2. And Ohio Wesleyan, which averages 10.7 goals, was contained to three in a one-goal loss last Sunday.

The search for St. Mary's goalkeeper of the future has centered on freshman Joey Casey. The Ellicott City native and Mount St. Joseph native made 15 saves in the Seahawks' 13-12 upset of No. 11 Roanoke Sunday. In doing so, Casey validated coach Chris Hasbrouck's decision to go with him rather than seniors Scott Marsh and Ben Wheeler and junior Zack Blewett. “Great to have,” Hasbrouck said of Casey, who is scheduled to make his second career start against No. 8 Dickinson Saturday.

Preseason speculation that St. Mary's could make some waves on the Division III national landscape appeared to gain momentum after the Seahawks opened the season with a 13-12 upset of No. 11 Roanoke on  Sunday. It's a rousing start for St. Mary's, but coach Chris Hasbrouck joked that it beat the alternative. “It's better than being 0-1,” he quipped Monday afternoon. “Obviously, it's a very good start. I think we played hard. We really didn't play that well. We had moments when we didn't do very well.

Mention the Blue Ridge Parkway and most people picture gorgeous vistas and floral treasures -- from spring blooms of Indian paintbrush, princess tree and heal all to the blazing autumn trees.But I've always thought of the road as a driveway -- albeit a wonderfully scenic driveway -- for Roanoke, the largest city along the 470-mile route.Roanoke (pop. 97,200) provides visitors a nice mix of urban and country life. It's big enough to support a symphony orchestra, art museum and other cultural institutions, but not quite crowded enough to generate traffic jams.

SALISBURY -- After stringing together six goals in the second half of yesterday's NCAA Division III quarterfinal game against No. 8 Roanoke, all that remained in doubt for top-ranked Salisbury State was whether this was the day Jason Coffman would become college lacrosse's all-time scoring leader.Coffman, who entered the game needing three points to break the record of 444 set by Rick Gilbert of Hobart in 1974, finally reached the milestone with an unassisted goal with 2: 48 remaining and Salisbury went on to win, 17-8, before a Mother's Day crowd of 831 at Sea Gull Stadium.

Host Mount St. Mary's scored a pair of late goals to stun No. 18 Bucknell, 12-11, in men's lacrosse Sunday. Andrew Scalley (Archbishop Spalding) tied the game with 1:35 left, and Cody Lehrer (Dulaney) scored the game-winner 15 seconds later to propel the host Mountaineers (1-1) to their fifth all-time win over a ranked opponent. Bryant Schmidt (St. Mary's Ryken) gave the Mount the chance to tie when he caused a turnover near midfield. The Bison (1-1) had a pair of chances in the final seconds to even the score but missed the cage on both shots.

Nine-time reigning national champion Salisbury is off to a 2-0 start, which includes a 16-9 victory over No. 11 Lynchburg. But the degree of difficulty will ratchet up at least a level (or three) when No. 2 Roanoke visits Sea Gull Stadium in Salisbury on Saturday. The meeting between the top two teams in the preseason poll released by the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association is a prime opportunity for the Sea Gulls to assess their progress thus far. “Our guys are always amped up to play the best teams on our schedule,” Salisbury coach Jim Berkman said.