May 27, 2007

SEE ALSO: Bishop Leads SU's Deficit Reduction Plan

by Paul Krome, Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff

BALTIMORE - Apparently Matt Hickman needed a rest. While his Salisbury teammates mobbed goalie Max Zarchin, Hickman collapsed at midfield of M&T Bank Stadium, laid on his back and curiously started doing snow angels.

You really couldn't blame him.

The junior attackman had just won the Most Outstanding Player award with a five-goal, one-assist performance to lead unbeaten Salisbury (23-0) to the win it wanted more than any this year: a 15-9 defeat of Cortland for the NCAA Division III men's lacrosse championship. The victory gave the Sea Gulls their seventh national championship, fourth in the last five years, and it avenged a 13-12 overtime loss to the Red Dragons in last year's final - the only defeat in Salisbury's last 93 games.

"Obviously we wanted to see them again," said senior attackman Eric Bishop, whose four goals and three assists made him a candidate for MOP honors. "To be the only team to take that one victory away in four years, obviously we wanted to see them again. I'm just happy we could pull it out."

Hickman's fourth and fifth goals of the contest keyed a 5-0 Salisbury run in the third quarter, when the Sea Gulls put the game away after Cortland (15-6) had tied it at 7. Hickman started the run 93 seconds into the period when he converted a Kylor Berkman pass on the right goal-line extended. Just 32 seconds later, junior Greg Titus, the third of Salibury's big three attackmen, scored a left-handed goal on a cut after a nifty pass from Bishop.

The Sea Gulls used transition throughout the game, at no time more apparent than when goalie Max Zarchin, who admitted to frequently losing sleep since allowing last year's overtime goal to Cortland, stoned Ryan Heath with 8:45 remaining. The Gulls moved the ball up to Kevin Kustron, who found a cutting Hickman for an insurmountable 12-7 lead.

"I thought their team speed was the difference," said Cortland coach Steve Beville, who returned the Dragons to the title game in his first year succeeding interim coach Rich Barnes. "The turnovers, throughout the game, hurt us."

"We pride ourselves in being a run-and-gun team," said Bishop. "As Coach [Jim Berkman] always preaches, playing Salisbury lacrosse is the funnest way to play, because we don't settle it down."

Cortland committed 23 turnovers, many of which were directly caused by a swarming Sea Gull defense. Kyle Hartzell and Chris Heier repeatedly stripped Red Dragon attackmen and started fast breaks. Hartzell held Cortland junior Ryan Heath, the SUNYAC Player of the Year with 50 goals and 32 assists, scoreless.

"Kyle Hartzell was the third long pole on our team last year - the third long pole," said Jim Berkman. "This fall, we didn't know what to do with him. He's an athlete. We tried him at D-middie. That didn't work. Finally we gave him a chance to settle in down there (at close defense), and he has turned into a tyrant. He's one of the best defensemen anywhere."

The Sea Gulls commanded a 48-33 advantage in ground balls.

"They have a great defense," said Mike Felice, who had one goal and one assist. "All of their close guys throw a lot of checks, and we knew that going in. We threw the ball away a couple times, and they capitalized on it."

Early on, however, Cortland appeared more energized and fully prepared to defend its championship. The Red Dragons, quick starters all year with a 40-goal edge on opponents in the first quarter, took advantage of some lapses by the Sea Gulls to surge ahead. Cortland defenseman Cheney Raymond scooped up a loose ball after an errant pass by Michael Lennon, raced the length of the field, withstood hits from Kevin Kustron and Matt Hittinger near the circle and fired a shot past Zarchin for a 2-0 lead 5:01 into the game.

Later, Felice found freshman Chris Dutkowsky on the right side about 10 yards from the goal. Dutkowsky, unguarded, who had plenty of time to wind up and beat Zarchin to give the upset-minded Red Dragons a 4-1 lead. It forced the stunned Sea Gulls to call timeout with 5:16 left in the quarter.

In the two games Salisbury trailed after one period, it responded with runs of 6-0 and 5-0 against Lynchburg and Roanoke, respectively, in the second quarter. The scenario played out again, as the Sea Gulls turned that 4-1 deficit into a 7-4 advantage - all before the midway point in the second quarter. Berkman drew a slide by Kevin Mitchell and found an open Hickman on the doorstep for a 4-4 tie at the 9:51 mark.

Twenty-nine seconds later, Mike Von Kamecke circled around from behind the goal, lost Mitchell and put Salisbury ahead, 5-4. Bishop completed the run with the same play, again victimizing Mitchell, and gave the Sea Gulls a 7-4 advantage with 7:48 left in the half.

Cortland took back the momentum and tied the game at 7 early in the third quarter when Adam Hyde, who led the Dragons with four goals, scored unassisted. From there, Salisbury's Ryan DeRose won four straight faceoffs to help the Sea Gulls start their run.

After the game, Berkman was asked how this record-setting team (see sidebar) ranked among the other championship teams in his 19-year tenure.

"I told this team that if someone mentions what was the best team of all time, their name would definitely be mentioned in that sentence," he said.

The Sea Gulls set a national record for wins in a season. It marked their fifth undefeated championship season, and the senior class finished with an 83-1 record.

NOTES

Cortland juniors Billy Fuchs and Ryan Heath each finished the season with 50 goals, marking the first time the Red Dragons have ever had two 50-goal scorers in the same season...Salisbury junior attackmen Greg Titus and Matt Hickman finished with 76 and 75 goals, respectively...The attendance for the Divisions II and III championship doubleheader of 22,778 ranked second in the history of the event. The figure represents a count of fans who walked through the turnstiles at some point during the day. The record was 23,990, set last year in Philadelphia. In 2005, 21,803 attended in Philadelphia, and this doubleheader drew 19,202 to Baltimore in 2004.