SALISBURY, Md. - The Salisbury University men's lacrosse team, the two-time defending NCAA Division III champions, began its season with a 24-6 rout of University of Scranton before 729 on a cold day at Sea Gull Stadium. Top-ranked Salisbury (1-0) picked up where it left off last season as the win gives the Sea Gulls 46 straight since 2006.

Senior All-American Kylor Berkman, the reigning National Player and Midfielder of the Year, had a career game as he recorded nine points on four goals and five assists. His previous high mark was seven points accomplished several times but the last time came in the 2008 national title game against SUNY Cortland where Berkman was named the Most Outstanding Player.

SU fell behind early as Scranton (0-1) scored the game's first three goals in the first six minutes. The last time Salisbury started a game down 3-0 was May 16, 2007, against Roanoke College in the NCAA quarterfinals. Scranton sophomore Kyle Frank (two goals, one assist) scored the first goal just 1:34 into the game and then assisted the next goal 40 seconds later. The three-goal deficit was the first one Salisbury faced since March 28, 2008, against Gettysburg College.

The Sea Gulls finally got on the scoreboard when junior defensive midfielder Will Poletis scored an unassisted goal at the 6:55 mark. Poletis' goal sparked a 16-0 run by Salisbury that spanned three quarters and over 31 minutes before the Royals scored again. During the run Berkman scored two goals and passed out five assists.

Salisbury had 16 different point scorers and 11 different goal scorers in the victory as the Sea Gulls combined for 37 points.

The Sea Gull attack had a good day as the first line of juniors Jake DeLillo and Mike Winter both scored four goals each while senior Stephen Krasco scored twice and added an assist. Off the bench, sophomores Erik Krum (two goals) and Michael Yetter (one goal) along with freshmen Matt Cannone (three goals) and Sean Hickey (one goal) combined for seven Sea Gull goals. Midfielder Shawn Zordani had a solid game as he scored a goal and added two assists. SU's other goal scorer was senior midfielder Patrick Bonanno.

Sophomore goalie Johnny Rodriguez (1-0) started the game in the goal for the Sea Gulls. The Limestone College transfer played over 38 minutes, allowed three goals and made 10 saves. SU coach Jim Berkman played every player that dressed for the game and all four goalies in the win.

After the first quarter Salisbury only held a 12-10 margin in shots. At the end of the game SU doubled up the Royals 61-30 in shots. Scranton won six of the first eight face-offs in the first quarter before Salisbury bounced back to win 22 of the final 26. Junior face-off specialist Ryan Finch (12 ground balls) won 15-of-21 for the Gulls and freshman Kyle Gallagher (one assist) won 7-of-9. The Sea Gulls scooped up 57 ground balls and made 24-of-26 clear attempts.

Scranton goalie Jeremy Dowiak made 17 saves in the loss for the Royals as he played over three quarters, nearly 48 minutes.

The win gives Salisbury 78 straight regular-season victories and 75 consecutive wins at Sea Gull Stadium since April 17, 2003. The victory is also Salisbury's 125th since the start of the 2003 season. SU is 125-2 in the past seven seasons.

Salisbury will next travel to Lynchburg, Va., where the Sea Gulls will face sixth-ranked Lynchburg College on Saturday, February 21, at 1 p.m. The Hornets are the last team to beat Salisbury during the regular-season when Lynchburg won 13-12 on April 10, 2003 in Salisbury, Md.