Salisbury, Md. – The "Cinderella" story of the sixth-seeded St. Mary's College of Maryland men's soccer team came to an end Saturday afternoon. St. Mary's saw its season end in a 2-0 loss to top-seeded Salisbury University in the championship game of the 2015 Capital Athletic Conference Championship Tournament.

The Seahawks finished as the conference championship tournament runners-up for the third time in program history and the first time since 1992. St. Mary's end the 2015 campaign with a 9-9-2 (4-4-1 CAC) record under fifth-year head coach Alun Oliver '04 and made their second consecutive CAC semifinal appearance as well.

Today's contest marked the first time the two sides have met in the CAC championship game and Salisbury now holds a 4-0 record over the Seahawks in playoff action. The Sea Gulls garnered their eighth CAC title this afternoon and first since 2008 (1999, 2000, 2002-2004, 2007, 2008, 2015) and will now represent the conference as the automatic qualifier for the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament.

Salisbury (13-3-3), who's ranked No. 20 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America NCAA Division III National Poll, claimed a 1-0 first-half lead after junior midfielder Leslie Umunna (Bowie, Md./Grundtvig) converted a penalty kick at 12:15.

The Seahawks posted a 13-11 shot advantage in the first half as well as a 6-4 margin in corner kicks but could not break through the Salisbury defense.

Salisbury had an opportunity early in the second half to go up 2-0 as the Sea Gulls gained another penalty kick. This time, however, Umunna was denied as sophomore goalkeeper Zack Haussler (Woodbine, Md./Glenelg) made the stop at 47:43. Then St. Mary's had a solid chance to cut the deficit in half as junior midfielder Nick Tait's (Silver Spring, Md./Sandy Spring Friends) shot was taken off the line by a Salisbury defender at 65:23.

Late in the second half, Salisbury finally tacked on its insurance goal as first-year defender Joshua Lord (Delmar, Md./Delmar) redirected a shot off of junior midfielder Brad Martinelli's (Ellicott City, Md./Marriotts Ridge) foot for his first goal of the season.

Although St. Mary's continued to apply offensive pressure, the Seahawks were unable to put one past senior goalkeeper Drew Staedeli (Ellicott City, Md./Mt. Hebron).

St. Mary's finished the game by outshooting the Sea Gulls, 23-20, and earning seven corner kicks to Salisbury's five. Seven of the Seahawk shots were blocked by the Sea Gull defense while Staedeli turned away six for his ninth solo shutout of the season. Haussler finished the match with nine saves.

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