St. Mary's City, Md. – The St. Mary's College of Maryland field hockey team fell to No. 2 Salisbury University this afternoon at Seahawk Stadium, 5-1, in the Capital Athletic Conference opener for both teams.

Senior Erica Henderson (Westover, Md./Pocomoke) tallied a hat trick for the visiting Sea Gulls, connecting on the first three goals of the game.  Henderson's first goal came just 48 seconds in off the first of two assists from classmate Melissa Slocum (Salisbury, Md./Wicomico).  Salisbury's second goal of the first half off the stick of Henderson came at 10:21 assisted by sophomore Summer Washburn (Andover, Mass./Phillips Academy).

Salisbury (8-0, 1-0 CAC) would strike again just three minutes into the second half as Henderson tallied her third goal of the game assisted by junior Emily Voshell (Viola, Del./Lake Forest).

St. Mary's (4-3, 0-1 CAC) closed within two goals at 3-1 as junior Claire Kortyna (Pittsburgh, Pa./Pine-Richard) found the back of the goal off a pass from senior Lauriann Parker (Woodbine, Md./Glenelg) following a corner opportunity for the Seahawks.  Parker received a pass from sophomore Olivia Edwards (Madison, Conn./Daniel Hand) and settled the ball at the top of the circle then fed it in front of the goal to Korytna for the goal.

Salisbury would strike back with goals at the 50:18 and 61:49 marks to seal the victory for the Sea Gulls.

Sophomore Christy Bishop (Glenwood, Md./Glenelg) and first-year Shannon Flanagan (Crofton, Md./South River) each made two saves to lead St. Mary's while sophomore Kelly Shuman (Columbia, Md./Atholton) and junior Ana Wash (Yorktown, Va./York) each saw time in goal.  Shuman registered one save during her time in the cage.

Salisbury controlled the play of the game with 12 shots on goal and 12 penalty corners to just three and two, respectively, for the Seahawks.

The Seahawks return to action on Tuesday, September 25 when St. Mary's visits Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Virginia for a non-conference game at 4:00 pm.

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