SALISBURY, Md.- The top ranked Salisbury University men's lacrosse team advanced to its fifth consecutive NCAA Division III national title game as it beat No. 2 Gettysburg College, 9-6, Saturday afternoon in the national semifinal in front of 1100 fans at Sea Gull Field.

"I thought it was an all around great college lacrosse game," said SU coach Jim Berkman.

Salisbury will now move on to face the winner of Wesleyan (Conn.) and the defending national champions, Cortland St., at M&T Bank Stadium on Sunday, May 27 at 1:30 pm. Wesleyan and CSU play Sunday May 20, at 1 pm.

Salisbury (22-0) jumped out to an early 3-0 lead behind unassisted goals from Kylor Berkman, Matt Hickman and Mike Von Kamecke. SU matched its biggest lead of the game before the half when senior Eric Bishop (two goals, one assist) netted his 63rd goal of the season from a Brett Yoder assist (two assists) to send the Gulls into halftime up 7-2.

Gettysburg (16-3) cut into the lead in the second half as they outscored Salisbury, 2-1, in each of the final two quarters. GC senior Ted Leonard scored back-to-back goals at the six minute mark to cut the SU lead to 9-6. Three goals was as close as the Bullets could get as the Sea Gulls tightened the screws on defense and held Gettysburg scoreless in the final minutes of the game.

"We did a good job holding the ball, we made them play us," said Berkman.

SU senior Greg Titus added two goals to up his team-high season total to 73. Other point scores for the maroon and gold were Matt Dasigner (two goals, one assist) and Kyle Burto who dished out one assist.

Salisbury net minder Max Zarchin remained perfect on the year between the pipes as he stopped four shots. GC goalie Pat Vaughan (16-3) picks up the loss as he had a game-high seven saves.

"I thought our face-offs were the difference we rose to the occasion," said Berkman.

The Sea Gulls dominated face-off as they won 12-of-18 (67 percent). Senior Ryan DeRose (7-of-11) and junior Ryan Brown (5-of-7) combined to win 12 face-offs and corralled four groundballs each.

"This was a huge win for our senior class," said Berkman. "This group of players has never lost a home game and only lost one game in their entire four year tenures."

The Sea Gulls round out play on the natural grass of Sea Gull stadium with 60-consective home wins. Next season the Gulls will play on newly installed hybrid mixture of field and turf.

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SALISBURY, Md. – No. 1 Salisbury relied on seven first-half goals en route to a 9-6 victory in NCAA Division III semifinal action at Sea Gull Stadium on Saturday afternoon. With the win, the Sea Gulls have won 60 straight at home and punched their 10th ticket to the national championship, having played in the national title game just last year.

Salisbury (22-0) seniors Eric Bishop and Matt Dasinger and junior attackman Greg Titus each tallied two goals to pace the Sea Gull offense, while junior midfielder Brett Yoder recorded two assists in the win. In goal, senior Max Zarchin made four saves to go along with three ground balls.

Gettysburg (16-3) senior midfielder Ted Leonard (Wallingford, Pa./Strath Haven) led the Bullets with a pair of goals. Sophomore attackman Zach Pucci (Ridgewood, N.J./Ridgewood) tacked on two assists. Senior goalie Pat Vaughan (Cockeysville, Md./Loyola Blakefield) capped his career with a strong performance, making seven saves on 24 Salisbury shots. He now has 724 career saves, placing him third on the Centennial Conference (CC) career list.

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2007-05-19