Courtesy of York Athletic Communications

SALISBURY, MD. – The eighth-ranked York College Spartans women's lacrosse squad made history on Saturday as they won their first ever Capital Athletic Conference Tournament Championship by topping #6 Salisbury 13-11.

The championship was long in the making for the Spartans as they entered Saturday 0-for-5 in their previous trips to the Capital Athletic Conference championship games. The win snapped Salisbury's 16-year run of winning the conference championship. 

Game #19 – Capital Athletic Conference Championship

Final Score: #8 York (Pa.) 13, #6 Salisbury 11

Records: York (Pa.) 15-5, SAL 16-3

Shots: York 28, SAL 26

Shots on Goal: York 21, SAL 18

Ground Balls: York 14, SAL 16

Turnovers: York 15, SAL 11

Clears: York 17-for-18, SAL 18-for-20

Draw Controls: York 16, SAL 10

Free Position Shots: York 2-for-3, SAL 2-for-5

Saves: York 7, SAL 8

Fouls: York 8, SAL 8

How It Happened:

• After Salisbury opened the scoring just 47 seconds in, York would answer with a pair of goals by Caitlin Rankin and Celly Arthur to put the Spartans up 2-1 with 18:45 left in the first half. Salisbury's Gabby Mongo would tie the game up with 16:22 to go before the Spartans would erupt for three unanswered goals in a span of just 2:19. Meghan Fox scored a pair of those goals with Rankin added her second of the game and York led 5-2 with 13:16 in the half.

• Both teams would add a goal apiece to end the first half including a Fox completing her hat trick as York took a three-goal lead in to the intermission and were just 30 minutes from history.

• Salisbury came out firing on all cylinders in the second half scoring five of the first six goals in the first 10:15 of the half including three from Linsey Wagner and Salisbury took an 8-7 lead. York would respond with goals from Hayley McCormick and Arthur in just 48 seconds to retake the lead 9-8.

• After the Gulls tied the game up 9-9, York would go on a scoring run over the next 6:09 with three unanswered goals to grab a 12-9 advantage with just 8:48 to go for a championship.

• York would get their final insurance goal with a strike by Chloe MacDonald with 4:07 to play as the Spartans made history with their first ever CAC Tournament championship with a 13-11 victory.

Spartan Leaders:

Meghan Fox: 4 goals, 1 assist, 1 ground ball

Caitlin Rankin: 3 goals, 1-for-1 FPS, 1 caused turnover

Celly Arthur: 2 goals, 2 assists, 1 ground ball

Chloe MacDonald: 2 goals

Claudia DiVenti: 10 draw controls, 1 assist, 1 ground ball

Nicole Clauter: 4 draw controls, 1 ground ball, 1 caused turnover

Alyssa Rankin: 2 ground balls, 2 caused turnovers

Sea Gull Leaders:

Taylor Poore: 4 goals, 2 ground balls, 3 caused turnovers

Lindsey Wagner: 3 goals, 1 assist

Gianna Demato: 2 goals

Alexis Strobel: 1 goal, 1 assist

Goalie Comparison

Abby Smith (YCP): 60:00 minutes played, 11 goals against, 7 saves (Win, 15-5)

Skye Graham (SAL): 60:00 minutes played, 13 goals against, 8 saves (Loss, 16-3)

Notes:

This was the Spartans first ever Capital Athletic Conference Tournament championship victory … York is now the Spartans are now 11-13 all-time in the CAC Tournament … the Spartans are now 1-5 against the Sea Gulls in CAC Championship games … the Spartans will make their eighth straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament via the CAC automatic bid … this was just the second win for the Spartans over Salisbury in school history … the Spartans have now won five games in a row … the Spartans scored in double digits in 18 of their 20 games this season … in the CAC Tournament the Spartans were 41-for-43 on clear attempts … Meghan Fox now leads the team with 59 goals on the year and is also just four points away from 200 career points … with goals today, Caitlin Rankin and Devin Hursey became the third and fourth Spartans to reach the 30-goal mark on the season … Claudia DiVenti recorded her 100^th draw control on the season in the win … the Spartans have outscored their opponents by 119 this year.

Up Next

The Spartans will wait to see where and who they play in the NCAA Tournament after clinching the Capital Athletic Conference's automatic bid. The tournament field will be unveiled Sunday night. Please check back at www.ycpspartans.com for full tournament information.