SALISBURY — The Salisbury School Crimson Knights lacrosse team hosted their final home game of the 2023 season against Deerfield Academy on May 17. In a hard-fought match, the Knights held on to win 8-6.
Salisbury honored their 21 rostered seniors before the game on Wachtmeister Field. The Knights’ student section turned up to cheer their side to victory with signs, inflatables, and big-head posters.
Strong winds gusted over the hills of Salisbury as the match got under way. Fired up by the crowd, the Knights started the game with a quick goal by senior middy Luke Winkler on the opening possession. Attackman Ryan Goldstein scored on the next possession to give Salisbury an early 2-0 lead.
Deerfield gathered control of the ball and looked to stop the bleeding by slowing the pace of play. An illegal deck from Luke Pisani followed by a slash from Justin DeLucia gave Deerfield a double power play and enabled them to get on the scoreboard.
Winkler responded with another goal of his own before Deerfield answered and brought the score to 3-2 by the end of the first. Deerfield opened the second quarter with a goal to tie up the game.
Salisbury settled in and dominated possession and tacked on three quick goals. Goldstein started their run with a goal before Pisani and Brock Behrman piled on two more, giving Salisbury a 6-3 lead at the half.
Deerfield came out in the third with a game-plan adjustment that altered the balance of the match. Salisbury was forced into turnovers and was put on the defensive for most of the quarter. Deerfield capitalized on the momentum shift and scored three times, tying the game at 6-6 with two minutes remaining in the third.
“We’ve got to control the game. Control the tempo,” shouted Salisbury Assistant Coach Kevin Kiley to his defenders from the sideline.
Salisbury’s long poles heeded the call and locked up Deerfield’s attackmen. Knight Trey Deere snuck in a goal as time expired in the third quarter and allowed Salisbury to retake the lead 7-6.
The Knights brought the game to a crawl in the fourth and looked to run down the clock. The final goal of the day was scored by Chris Alexis and the game ended 8-6 in favor of Salisbury.
Goalie Marco Wimmershoff logged seven saves in net for the Knights. Captain Brady Wambach was a groundball magnet and scooped up seven loose balls throughout the game. Deerfield goalie Alex Rolfe made 10 saves but the relentless onslaught of attacking Knights prevailed in the end.
On offense, Salisbury was led by Winkler and Pisani with two goals each. Alexis, Deere, Behrman and Pisani all scored once. For Deerfield, Owen Bunten and Tommy Augustine both scored twice while Julian Navab and Owen Brozek had one goal each.
The result improved Salisbury’s record to 12-3 for the season while Deerfield moved to 9-7. Both teams qualified for Prep Nationals’ Big Four Classic in Greenwich along with Brunswick School (12-3) and The Lawrenceville School (16-0). In the first round on May 19, Lawrenceville defeated Deerfield 16-8 and Brunswick beat Salisbury 15-9.
In the championship game on May 21 between Lawrenceville and Brunswick, Lawrenceville won 14-13 in double overtime.
