Salisbury University adopted its current name on July 1, 2001, after previously operating as Maryland State Normal School (1925-34), Maryland State Teachers College (1934-63), Salisbury State College (1963-88), and Salisbury State University (1988-2001). In honor of the silver anniversary of the institution's rechristening, we're spinning the "Gulls Greatest Hits" and revisiting each varsity team's biggest moment in the Salisbury University era.
Men's Soccer | Nov. 21, 2004 – NCAA Quarterfinals vs. Richard Stockton
Setting the Stage
One of the Sea Gulls' oldest varsity sports with roots that trace back to 1934, Salisbury men's soccer climbed into the national spotlight under head coach
Gerry DiBartolo in the 1990s, winning the Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) and making its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 1999. The Gulls were tournament mainstays by 2004, having made the field four years out of five and advancing to the national quarterfinals twice.
SU finished the 2004 regular season undefeated at 15-0-2 and ran roughshod through the CAC Tournament, dispatching Gallaudet, Mary Washington, and York (Pa.) by a combined 14-0 margin. In the first round of the NCAA Tournament, the Sea Gulls faced a stiff 1-1 test from Arcadia before prevailing in PKs, then took down Johns Hopkins 1-0 in the round of 16.
Back in the quarterfinals for the third time in six years, third-ranked Salisbury drew 15th-ranked Richard Stockton College (now Stockton University), who survived overtime thrillers against North Carolina Wesleyan (3-2) and Stevens (2-1) to set up a Sunday showdown on "The Island" with a trip to the national semifinals in Greensboro, N.C. on the line.
Key Faces
Salisbury's midfield ran through CAC Player of the Year
Dan Lader, who earned First-Team All-America honors after racking up five goals and nine assists as a box-to-box presence. On the attack was the two-headed monster of
Bill Whittington and
Christopher Mills, who teamed up for 35 of SU's 66 goals on the season.
Jason Cranford ran the show between the pipes, finishing the year giving up just 0.61 goals per game and pitching 11 shutouts.
Lader, Mills, Cranford, and defender
Markus Hunkeler each earned All-Region recognition, while those four plus Whittington and defender
Tim Lane made the All-CAC teams. DiBartolo was recognized as CAC Coach of the Year for the fourth of ultimately seven times in his Sea Gull tenure.
How It Happened
RSC took the pro-Salisbury crowd out of it early with Dan Morse's rebound putback in the third minute, then in the 13th minute the Ospreys doubled their lead as Eric Lewis banged a shot off a defender and past Cranford. Whittington provided a quick answer for SU, scoring off a rebound in the 17th minute to cut the deficit to 2-1, and the Gulls kept the margin at one goal as the teams broke for halftime.
In the 54th minute, Lader dribbled up the left side of the pitch and crossed it into the box to Whittington, who headed it past RSC keeper Tim McKenna to tie the match at 2-2. Whittington struck again in the 69th minute to give Salisbury a 3-2 lead, using a
J.J. King pass to break away and blast another one into the back of the net.
Cranford stood tall amid a desperate push from the Ospreys, recording three saves over the 90 minutes to earn his 20th victory of the season. The Sea Gulls then put it away for good in historic fashion in the 88th minute, with Mills feeding Whittington at the top of the box for his fourth tally of the game to tie the single-match record for most goals in a Division III Tournament fixture. Most importantly, Whittington's final dagger clinched a 4-2 Salisbury win and secured the Gulls their first-ever Final Four berth.
Reflections from HC Gerry DiBartolo
"That was a phenomenal game. Even after falling behind 2-0, the guys had this belief that we were going to pull this thing off. It was all really positive, and it was a team effort. We also had a huge crowd at the field [of officially 506], and that was back when you could still have couches on the side of the field to watch the game. (Some A.D. by the name of DiBartolo brought an end to that – we had to put fences up because we had to separate the field from the fans as part of an NCAA rule.) It was just a magical feeling, seeing it that packed and with people going crazy. It was wonderful."
Aftermath
Salisbury's historic run came to a halt in the semifinals against powerhouse Messiah College (now University), who pulled out a 1-0 nailbiter to end SU's season at 20-1-3; the Falcons then routed UC Santa Cruz 4-0 to win their first of three straight national titles. The Sea Gulls returned to the NCAA Tournament the next year and eight more times under DiBartolo, who stepped away from the program after the 2015 season to take over as Director of Athletics and Campus Recreation.
Three players from the 2004 men's soccer team have been inducted into the SU Athletics Hall of Fame, starting with Lader in 2018 and continuing with Cranford in 2019 and Whittington in 2021. DiBartolo joined them in the Hall in 2024, one year after his retirement from the A.D. chair and the official dedication of the Gerry DiBartolo Sea Gull Soccer Complex.
Salisbury University is a proud member of NCAA Division III with primary membership in the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference, along with affiliate membership in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (football, men's & women's swimming), Coastal Lacrosse Conference (men's lacrosse), State University of New York Athletic Conference (field hockey), and Colonial Women's Golf Conference (women's golf). With over 500 student-athletes in 23 varsity sports, SU is recognized as one of the nation's most competitive intercollegiate athletics programs regardless of division, featuring dedicated coaches and staff that foster excellence on and off the field. The Sea Gulls have won a combined 23 team national championships, 26 individual national championships, and 211 conference championships, and have produced 54 Academic All-Americans.
To Make Tomorrow Yours at Salisbury University, and learn more about Sea Gull Athletics' tradition of excellence, visit SUSeaGulls.com or follow on social media @SUSeaGulls.
