Winter Blast Sends Salisbury to NCAA Final
by Ben Penserga | Special to Lacrosse Magazine Online | Game Blog
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Mike Winter's overtime goal, his fourth of the game, clinched Salisbury's 14-13, NCAA Division III semifinal victory over Stevenson -- the latest chapter in the budding rivalry. © Kevin P. Tucker |
SALISBURY, Md. -- For two teams that have
battled six times in the last two seasons, it was only fitting that
it took overtime for Salisbury University to beat Stevenson
University in the NCAA Division III men's lacrosse tournament
semifinals Sunday.
A Mike Winter goal with two minutes left in OT gave Salisbury the
14-13 victory in their latest meeting and propelled the Sea Gulls
to the national championship game versus Tufts University in
Baltimore on May 30.
Winter's score was his fourth of the contest.
"I was right in front of the goal, Sam [Bradman] threw it to me
and I just shot this one shot that I know Coach [Jim] Berkman
hates, but I always love to do, and it did it," said the senior
with a laugh.
Winter ended a back-and-forth affair between No. 2-ranked
Salisbury (21-1) and No. 1-ranked Stevenson (19-2) at Sea Gull
Stadium.
But before the Sea Gulls could get to Baltimore, they first had to
face the Mustangs again in what has quickly become a rivalry
between the two Capital Athletic Conference schools.
The game was third time in the last four seasons that Stevenson
and Salisbury have been the top two ranked teams in the nation,
with the Mustangs handing the Gulls a loss in the CAC championship
last month.
Sunday, Stevenson got on the board first when Jimmy Dailey scored
on a Steve Kazimer assist about 90 seconds into the first quarter.
Salisbury answered with Matt Cannone and Winter, as they both
beat Mustangs goalie Geoff Herbert to score. The teams would trade
goals the rest of the quarter, with Salisbury's Mike Von Kamecke
scoring unassisted with 36 seconds left to cut Stevenson's lead to
5-4.
Von Kamecke's hot hand continued in the second, running off two
more goals to give the Gulls a 6-5 lead. Follwing Winter's second
goal of the day, the Mustangs' Neal Barthelme got on the board off
an Evan Douglass assist to make it just 7-6 Gulls at halftime.
In the second half, Salisbury's Jake DeLillo made it 8-6 with a
goal before a lighting delay shelved the game for nearly an
hour.
After the delay, Stevenson ran off three straight goals to tie the
game at 9-9, but Salisbury answered right back with three of their
own before Barthelme scored before the end of the quarter to make
it 12-10 Salisbury.
Stevenson then outscored Salisbury 3-1 in the fourth to push it
into overtime. The Mustangs' Steve Kazimer had the ball in the
final seconds of the fourth, but couldn't convert the
game-winner.
"We just wanted to take the last shot, take the best shot
possible," Kazimer, a senior, said. "I got the shot -- I just
didn't put it in the cage."
After Salisbury stopped Stevenson in the Mustangs' first
possession in overtime, Winter scored his final goal to give the
Gulls the win.
Despite the outcome, Stevenson head coach Paul Cantebene walked
off the field proud of what his players accomplished Sunday.
"We're happy with how we played," he said. "We can hold our heads
high and we're going to move on. Not a lot of schools six years ago
would be in this game. It was a great year. We're going to build on
it."
The close game also proved again how Stevenson -- with a program
less than a decade
old -- could hang with an established powerhouse like
Salisbury.
"We really respect their program," Cantabene said. "It's great for
our conference to have two great teams. We want to be what they
are. And we're really close. We're one shot on cage from being
there."
After six meetings in two years, Berkman said people can expect a
good game between the two teams every time.
"It's definitely evolving into a good rivalry," he said. "We
almost made up six years in two when you play somebody six times.
In the lacrosse world, it's usually six years before you play
somebody six times. We've had a lot of great games and great
crowds. For a lacrosse athlete at any level, they'd love to have
been in the arena like what was out there today."
Berkman added that Sunday's experience will only help the Sea
Gulls going into their game against Tufts -- which upset Cortland in the other NCAA semifinal --
in the championship game.
"We've had six of seven games where we've played the best teams in
the country, and we've played them close and we've only lost one
game," he said. "We've been in an arena where you have to make good
decision against great competition. And hopefully that's going to
pay some dividends next week in that environment."
