SALISBURY, Md. - The No. 1 Salisbury University
men's lacrosse team claimed its 14th consecutive Capital Athletic
Conference championship Sunday with a 20-10 victory over
second-year conference competitor Villa Julie College before 928 at
Sea Gull Stadium. The victory gave Salisbury (17-0) the
conference automatic bid into next month's NCAA Division III
national tournament. This is SU's 20th consecutive bid to the
NCAA tournament and 30th overall in school history.
Sea Gull head coach Jim Berkman moved to within
one victory of Army coach Jack Emmer's 326 wins, the current NCAA
record for wins all-time in collegiate men's lacrosse. In
Berkman's 21 seasons as a head coach (1989-2008 Salisbury
University, 1984-85 Potsdam State) he has amassed a 325-35 overall
record, 316-30 at SU.
With coach Berkman at the helm the Gulls have never lost a CAC
contest, a flawless 100-0 since joining the conference in 1995, and
currently hold two NCAA leading win streaks - 70 victories at home
since 2003 and 40 games overall since 2007.
SU's latest CAC championship was in question early as the Gulls
were knotted with No. 9 VJC (12-4) at the end of the first quarter
tied at three apiece. Salisbury took a slim 8-5 lead into
halftime.
The maroon and gold came out of halftime and exploded
offensively as they outscored the Mustangs 9-0 in the third
quarter. Sophomore Mike Von Kamecke netted two of
his team-high four goals in the third stanza while fellow sophomore
Jake DeLillo scored back-to-back goals 39 seconds
apart in the middle of the quarter.
Salisbury cruised to a 10-goal victory led by junior
Kylor Berkman's team-high five points (one goal,
four assists), highlighted by his three assists to Von Kamecke, one
of the four Sea Gulls who finished the game with four points.
Seniors Greg Titus (three goals, one assist)
and Bruce Richardson (two goals, two assists) and
sophomores Von Kamecke (four goals) and DeLillo (two goals, two
assists) combined for 16 of the 33 points scored by the defending
national champions. Senior attackman Matt Hickman
(two goals, one assist) was the other Gull to score two or more
goals as he posted a three-point game.
Salisbury outshot VJC 53-to-27 in the game (25-to-12 in the
second half), and won 20-of-32 face-offs. The Mustangs turned the
ball over 16 times in the second half and 26 times in the game as
sophomore long-stick midfielder Connor Burgasser
(four ground balls) caused four Villa Julie turnovers.
Junior Zach Krissoff earned his fifth win of
the season as he served over 49 minutes between the pipes for SU
and made four solid saves. The stingy Gull defense paralleled its
offense as they dominated in third quarter to hold Villa Julie to
just two shots. Juniors Riley Clark and
Nick Fiorentino shared the final 10 minutes
in the net for SU as they each recorded one save.
The game was a physical battle as three of the games' first four
goals came in man-up situations as both teams were plagued by
penalty minutes. The Sea Gulls were forced to kill 10 extra-man
opportunities as the Mustangs converted three times. Salisbury
converted 2-of-9 man-up chances.
VJC was led offensively by Richard Ford's game-high five goals
and Kevin Donnelly's three points. Starting goalie Eric Fleegle
prevented nine Sea Gull shots from finding their way into the net
while Geoff Hebert played the final 20 minutes in goal for the
Mustangs and snagged six Gull shots.
The Gulls will finish out their regular season schedule this
Saturday, April 26, as they host Eastern Shore
rival Washington (Md.) College, currently ranked fourth in the
country, at 1 p.m. The Gulls are 21 and 19 all-time
in the all Maryland series billed as the "War on the Shore".
Salisbury has won the last seven meetings against Washington
including the last five regular-season contests. At stake is
the Charles B. Clark Cup which is awarded annually to the
regular-season winner of the Salisbury-Washington men's lacrosse
game in memory of Coach Charles B. Clark, who served with
distinction at both schools. Since it was first rewarded in
2004 the Shoremen have never won the Cup.
