The 18th ranked University of Mary Washington women's lacrosse team jumped out to a 9-5 halftime advantage, but couldn't hold the lead for 60 minutes, as \#1-ranked Salisbury University topped the Eagles, 18-12, in a Capital Athletic Conference game on Wednesday at the Battleground. The Eagles fall to 10-4 overall and 6-1 in CAC play, and will be the second seed in the CAC Tournament next week.

Salisbury gained the early lead with a pair of scores from Carrie Bray and Aileen McCausland in the opening four minutes. The Eagles responded quickly with tallies from Katie Wallis (Cypress, Texas, Cy-Creek) and Catherine Kennedy (Baltimore, Md., Baltimore Lutheran) to tie the score with 22:08 remaining in the first. After Salisbury scored twice more, UMW answered again with goals from Lauren Callison (Stevensville, Md., Kent Island) and Kennedy to tie the score again at 4-4 with 11:37 to play. 

A Salisbury score gave the Gulls a 5-4 advantage, but UMW answered with five straight tallies to end the half with a 9-5 lead. Brittany Butler scored twice in the rally, with Allie Kimmelman (Burke, Va., Robinson), Kennedy, and Wallis scoring the other goals, with Wallis' coming in the final second.

Salisbury began the second half on a tear, scoring six straight to gain an 11-9 lead. Jenny Atmar stemmed the tide briefly to return the score to 11-10, but scored the next five goals to assume a 16-10 lead to put the game away. Keller Torrey (Roswell, Ga., Centennial) and Kennedy scored late for the Eagles to cap UMW's score sheet.

The Sea Gulls outshot UMW, 33-21, and held a 21-20 edge in ground balls. Salisbury won 17 of 31 draw controls, including 11 in the second half. UMW goalies Leigh Ann Redefer (Lewes, Del., Cape Henlopen) and Kathryn Stiltz (Marietta, Ga., Walton) combined for eight saves, with Refer making seven stops.

Mary Washington was led by Kennedy's four goals, with Butler and Wallis adding two apiece.

The Eagles will host a Capital Athletic Conference semifinal game at the Battleground on Tuesday afternoon against an opponent to be determined.