The top-ranked Salisbury University men's lacrosse team advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals with a 12-8 victory over No. 14 Endicott in the second round of the 2011 NCAA Division III men's lacrosse tournament on Saturday.

The Sea Gulls (18-1) will square off with Dickinson this Wednesday at Sea Gull Stadium. The Red Devils (17-1) defeated Wittenberg University, 11-4, in their second-round contest on Saturday afternoon. This marks the first official meeting between Dickinson and Salisbury.

Salisbury took a 1-0 lead at the 13:27 mark off an unassisted goal from junior attackman Tony Mendes. The Gulls (16-5) responded with a tally from Brian Estes off an assist from Jack Curtis nearly a minute later.

Over the next eight minutes of play, the Salisbury offense reeled off five-straight goals to gain a 6-1 advantage, including two from both Mendes and junior attackman Matt Cannone. Endicott closed out the first quarter with a pair of unassisted goals, including Estes' second tally of the contest.

Cannone added a third goal to kick off the second quarter, with the assist coming from senior midfielder Shawn Zordani. Following a goal by Endicott's Kyle Jordan, Cannone tacked on another to extend the lead to 8-4 in favor of the hosts. The visiting Gulls closed the lead to 8-6, as both Jordan and Andrew Pochebit recorded unassisted goals to finish out the half.

At the half, Endicott had outshot Salisbury 23-20, while both teams had each picked up 12 groundballs.  

The third quarter was played at a frenetic pace, as the two teams took turns pushing the ball up the field but struggled to put together offensive chances. After 12 minutes of scoreless play, Endicott's Brendan Eppley broke through with an unassisted goal to bring the score to 8-7 in favor of Salisbury.

Just 19 seconds later, junior midfielder Sam Bradman took a pass from senior midfielder Spencer Smith and unleashed a shot on frame and into the net for the 9-7 advantage.

Bradman added another goal just a few minutes into the fourth quarter of play, this time with the assist coming from Zordani. The Sea Gulls would outscore the Gulls 2-1 the rest of the way, with Smith and Bradman each netting goals.

Cannone (four goals) and Mendes (three goals, one assist) each finished with four points to lead the way for the Sea Gulls. Bradman (three goals) and Zordani (three assists) finished shortly behind with three points.

Salisbury senior goalkeeper Johnny Rodriguez turned in an impressive performance with 10 saves, including four in the final quarter of play. Junior midfielder Andrew Sellers had a solid performance for the Sea Gulls, with three groundballs and a career-high four caused turnovers.

Endicott received a team-high three points from Jordan on three goals, while Estes finished with two points on two goals.  Goalkeeper Mike Klein finished with 10 saves in 60 minutes of action for the Gulls; he also picked up five groundballs and caused one turnover.