SALISBURY, Md. - The Salisbury University men's soccer team saw its run in the 2009 Division III soccer championship end as Johns Hopkins University advanced 5-3 in a penalty kick shootout on Sunday afternoon at the SU Soccer Complex. The two teams played to a scoreless draw following 110 minutes of play.

In the overtime shootout, the two teams each made their first two shots. On the third shot of the shootout, JHU freshman Nick White shot the ball low and hard to the left corner and SU senior goalkeeper Josh Scotton (Delmar, Md.) made a great move to get his hands on the ball, but it deflected off his hands, trickling into the net. Each team then made its next shot before a Sea Gull miss gave the Blue Jays a 4-3 advantage. The final kicker for JHU, Tony Gass, crisply put the ball into the back of the net for the 5-3 advantage, sending the Blue Jays on to the NCAA Sectionals where they will take on Messiah College, who defeated SUNY Brockport 3-1 on Sunday afternoon.  

"Every time you go deeper into the NCAA tournament, you are facing a better and better team," said SU head coach Gerry DiBartolo. "It was a well-played game that was played between two very competitive teams, two teams with very different styles."

The Sea Gulls (15-3-2) had several quality opportunities throughout regulation and the overtime periods. The best opportunity came in the 109^th minute, when SU senior midfielder Benjamin Reed (Arnold, Md.) collected a cross on the back post with no JHU defender around him. Blue Jay senior goalkeeper Ravi Gill (six saves) came off and his line and Reed forced off a shot that went over the top of the goal. The Gulls' other good opportunity came in the match's 82nd minute, when SU senior midfielder Kyle Sterling (Salisbury, Md.) collected a ball inside the 18-yard box, did a move to create some separation and fired a shot low and hard to the bottom right corner. Gill came up with another top-notch save as he went sprawling towards the corner and wrapped up the ball.

The SU defense, made up of seniors Scotton and Justin McGrath (Perry Hall, Md.), juniors Justin Lambert (Silver Spring, Md.) and Casey Rector (Ellicott City, Md.) and freshman Nate Woods (Elkton, Md.), played exceptionally through the match. The group diffused numerous dangerous Blue Jay opportunities throughout the game. In the 73rd minute, JHU had a dangerous counter-attack opportunity following an SU corner kick. With several players coming on in an odd-man rush, the SU defense held the Blue Jay offense at bay with a nice slide tackle by Woods that jarred the ball away from the JHU attacker.

For the match the Sea Gulls outshot the Blue Jays 20-14, including 7-6 in the overtime period, with both teams feeling the effects of fatigue.

"It's definitely tough to expend that energy on Saturday, and then turn around on Sunday for another 90 minutes, let alone 110 minutes total, " said SU senior midfielder Alex Hargrove (Clarks Summit, Pa.). "It definitely takes a toll on your body in the overtime. The level of energy maybe dropped a little bit, but the commitment of the players didn't."

The Sea Gulls return a wealth of experience for next year's team, as they are expected to return 21 letter-winners. Sunday's match marks the final match for SU's eight seniors, made up of Hargrove, Nick Malone (Salisbury, Md.), McGrath, Kenneth Price (Elkton, Md.), Reed, Scotton, Sterling and Greg Taylor (Tyaskin, Md.). Over the last four years the group has made three NCAA tournament appearances, won two Capital Athletic Conference championships and compiled a career record of 57-16-8 (70.4 winning percentage).