FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - The top-ranked Salisbury University men's lacrosse team celebrated its eighth NCAA Division III national championship before a record crowd of 24,317 at Gillette Stadium as the Sea Gulls defeated second-ranked SUNY Cortland 19-13. Salisbury (22-0) completes its sixth undefeated season in school history as the Gulls successfully defended their title against the Red Dragons (18-2).

Salisbury junior midfielder Kylor Berkman was named the Most Outstanding Player as the first-team All-American scored a game-high five goals and added two assists. "This has been a storybook season for us," said SU coach Jim Berkman, the all-time winningest coach in NCAA history. "I know we've had success before but, as a coach, this is one of the most rewarding seasons after losing the starting defense [last season]. To come back, go undefeated, and to win another title replacing all of those guys, is a tribute to our program and our coaches."

The Sea Gull senior class graduates with an 84-1 record as Salisbury will take a 45-game winning streak, third longest in NCAA history, into the 2009 season. SU senior attackman Greg Titus (two goals, three assists) missed the 2006 season and played in 2004 and 2005 to finish his career with an 85-0 record.

SU goalie Nick Fiorentino, in only his third-ever collegiate start, had an epic performance as the senior made a career-high 14 saves in between the pipes for the maroon and gold. "Nick stepped up and had a great game," said Jim Berkman. "He is a student of the game. And when a student of the game gets his opportunity, he usually does pretty well."

The Baldwinsville, N.Y., native came up with several point blank shots against his former high school teammate and current Cortland All-American Ryan Heath (two goals, two assists). The Red Dragon senior attackman scored twice on Fiorentino but got denied five times by the Sea Gull. "This is a dream come true," said Fiorentino. "I knew they were going to score some goals. I had to keep my composure and make as many saves as possible and force Cortland to be great shooters."

Salisbury trailed for a brief moment to begin the game down 1-0 but the high-powered Gulls rattled off four straight and never looked back. SU senior Bruce Richardson matched Berkman's total of five goals to help lead the Gulls to victory. The Salisbury first midfield line of Berkman, Richardson and sophomore Mike Von Kamecke (three goals, one assist) combined to score 13 of SU's 19 goals and totaled 16 points.

"The first midfield line was a very special midfield at the end of the season. We got to a point in games where they were scoring every time they got on the field. It's a unique unit," said Jim Berkman.

The Sea Gulls set a new NCAA championship game record with seven first quarter goals as the maroon and gold led 7-3 over the Red Dragons. The previously record was six set by Hobart in the 1988 championship game against Ohio Wesleyan University. The 10 combined goals is also a new championship record.

The two teams rapidly traded goals through the first and second quarters as they combined to score 12 goals (Salisbury seven, Cortland five) in just over 10 minutes. The streak began with 6:38 left in the first quarter and ended with 11:09 left before the half. The Sea Gulls led 9-6 at the half.

Salisbury outscored Cortland 10-7 in the second half including five of the final seven goals. SU also received goals from seniors Matt Hickman (one goal, one assist), defenseman Ryan Phillips (one goal), sophomore Jake DeLillo (one goal) and Massachusetts native Stephen Krasco (one goal).

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2008-05-25