CHESTERTOWN — The annual renewal of the War on the Shore men’s lacrosse rivalry between Washington College and Salisbury University is tonight at Roy Kirby Jr. Stadium in Chestertown.
The winner takes possession of the perpetual Charles B. Clark Cup for one year — until the next meeting.
Salisbury comes into tonight’s game with an untarnished 16-0 record and No. 1 ranking in the country among NCAA Division III schools.
Washington is 7-9, having lost seven of its last eight games.
The Shoremen are coming off of a 16-5 defeat last Saturday at No. 8 Gettysburg in their final Centennial Conference game of the season.
They finish 1-7 in the conference, and out of playoff contention.
Meantime, the Bullets (11-3, 7-0 CC), who wrap up their regular season tomorrow at CC rival Franklin & Marshall, have locked down the top seed in the conference tournament that begins April 29.
Gettysburg went on two separate 4-0 runs and a 5-0 run to defeat Washington on Saturday, April 19.
Jackson Hearn found Jack Dunleavy on the left wing just 52 seconds in, before Washington’s Parker Barta netted the equalizer about a minute and a half later.
The Bullets regained the lead for good with 6 minutes, 58 seconds remaining in the first frame when Frank Barbera hit Dunleavy in transition.
Patrick Maroney made it 3-1 at the 4:40 mark and then Dunleavy completed his first-quarter hat trick with 9 seconds showing on the clock.
Matt Maciolek and Dunleavy each found the back of the net in the first 5:10 of the second quarter for a 6-1 lead.
Washington cut the deficit in half in the span of 47 seconds after Grant Matthews connected with Cam Carrigan and then finished off a pass from Ben Dickinson with 8:55 to play before the break.
Jackson Barroll took over after that for the Bullets, scoring three goals in succession to close out the half. The run started when Barbera ran a fast break and flipped left to Dunleavy, who went behind his back to Barroll on the doorstep. Barroll’s next two goals were unassisted, the last one coming with just 26 seconds remaining before intermission.
Barbera and Will Hedley went pole-to-pole off the face-off to start the third quarter for a 10-3 lead.
Cory Morgan scored man-up for the Shoremen midway through the period, but they couldn’t build on that.
Gettysburg closed out the third quarter with four unanswered goals for a 14-4 advantage as part of a larger 6-1 run to end the game.
WHAT’S NEXT: Tonight at 7 o’clock, Washington and Salisbury will face off for the 57th time. The Sea Gulls lead the series, 36-20, and have won the last 10 meetings.
The Charles B. Clark Cup, named after a 1934 graduate of Washington College who coached both programs to national prominence, was added to the rivalry in 2004. The Sea Gulls claimed the cup each of the first nine years it was awarded.
Washington has won the Clark Cup only once, 7-6, in 2013, closing the game on a 4-0 run punctuated by junior midfielder Hunter Nowicki’s go-ahead goal with 64 seconds remaining.