Box Score
SALISBURY, Md. – Kylor Berkman scored with 2:48 left in the second overtime, and No. 1 Salisbury University denied No. 3 Gettysburg its third appearance in the NCAA Division III men's lacrosse championship game, handing the Bullets an 11-10 loss Sunday afternoon at Sea Gull Stadium.
Senior Trip Dyer (Ocean View, Del./Worcester Prep (Md.)) led Gettysburg, scoring all three of his goals in the first half.
With the loss, the Bullets (17-3) close the curtains on an outstanding 2008 season. The team tied the single-season record for wins and won its fifth straight Centennial Conference championship while reaching the NCAA semifinals for the second year in a row.
Just as it did in their first meeting of the season, Gettysburg carried a two-goal lead (9-7) into the fourth quarter, only to see the Sea Gulls rally late.
Junior Tom O'Donnell (Montgomeryville, Pa./La Salle College) contributed two goals and two assists for the Bullets while sophomore Joe Brody (Bethesda, Md./Walter Johnson) and senior Ben Sufrin (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) scored two goals apiece. Brody finishes the season with 51 goals, fifth on Gettysburg's single-season list.
Bruce Richardson posted two goals and two assists for Salisbury (21-0) which advanced to the national championship game for the second year in a row while extending its winning streak to 44 and its home winning streak to 74. The Sea Gulls will play Cortland, a 16-5 winner over Ithaca in other semifinal, in the title game next Sunday in Foxborough, Mass.
Junior Zachary Furshman (Miami, Fla./Kent School (Conn.)) came up with 14 saves – just two shy of his career-high – for Gettysburg while third-stringer Nick Fiorentino, starting due to the suspension of Salisbury's top two goalies, finished with eight stops.
The marquee match-up lived up to its billing, as neither team led by more than two the entire game. Gettysburg managed to lead for nearly the entire contest although Salisbury won the battle for possession, as the Sea Gulls won 17-of-26 face-offs. The Bullets were out-shot 49-33.
Richardson made it a 9-8 game with a straight-on runner with 10:08 left in regulation, and DeLillo tied it up at the 8:29 mark, scoring off a Berkman feed. Mike Von Kamecke then gave Salisbury only its second lead of the game, scoring with 7:47 remaining to make it 10-9.
The Bullets gained possession with 2:52 left when Salisbury turned it over on the only failed clear attempt of the day for either team. Gettysburg called a timeout with 2:34 left, and 15 seconds later Brody posted his second game-tying goal in the last three games, converting a straightaway, spinning left-hander with 2:19 showing, forging the seventh tie of the afternoon. Brody also forced overtime in the team's second-round win over Denison on May 10.
Each team had a chance to win it in regulation. Von Kamecke and Greg Titus missed high for Salisbury before the Sea Gulls turned it over 39 seconds left. Gettysburg worked for a final shot, but Brody's potential game-winner sailed wide left just before the horn.
In the first overtime, the Bullets seemed to come up with every loose ball and held a 3-1 advantage in ground balls. After winning the opening face-off, Gettysburg milked the clock before O'Donnell missed high on the first shot of the extra session. Dyer also took a shot with 1:07 showing but it hit the outside of the net. Salisbury regained possession and took its turn at a last-second shot, but Furshman scooped up Berkman's roller and heaved the ball downfield as time expired.
Salisbury's Ryan Finch was 13-for-15 on face-offs for the day, but he came up with his biggest win when he gained possession at the start of the second overtime. Salisbury called timeout with 3:17 to go before Berkman took a pass from Richardson, floated to his right, and ripped in the game-winner from 10 yards out.
As they did in the regular season against Salisbury, the Bullets got out to a quick start. O'Donnell gave his team a 1-0 lead, backtracking a semicircle behind the net before depositing a low shot from the left crease on Gettysburg's first shot of the game. Then with 8:21 on the clock, Dyer circled around the goal and drilled in a similar shot. He nearly made it three in a row for the Bullets, but he had a shot hit the post 10 seconds later.
The Sea Gulls rallied with three unanswered goals, however, setting the stage for a back-and-forth battle the rest of the way.
Furshman got into the act with five and a half minutes on the first-quarter clock, making a leaping save on a close-range shot with Gettysburg on the PK. Salisbury began controlling possession in the latter portion of the quarter, and finally got on the scoreboard with 4:06 left, as Berkman let fly from 20 yards out to beat Furshman stick-side.
Titus pulled the Gulls even (2-2) with 3:29 to go, taking a quick shot from the 10 yards out the right.
Salisbury took its only lead of the opening half (3-2) when Connor Burgasser scored in transition with 10:06 left, as the Sea Gulls made a quick outlet off a ground ball following a Gettysburg shot.
The Bullets reeled off the next three goals over a 1:54 span to tie their largest lead (5-3) of the half. Sufrin kicked off the spurt, drilling in a runner from the left side with 9:46 left, before O'Donnell gave Gettysburg back the lead just over a minute later, bouncing in a shot from the left to make it 4-3.
Dyer completed the Bullet surge with 7:52 to go, converting on a breakaway. After a Richardson shot hit the post, Gettysburg collected the rebound, and before the Salisbury defense could set up, Brody raced down the middle of the field and dished it off to Dyer on the left for his second goal of the game.
The Gulls came back with a pair of quick strikes, with DeLillo and Richardson finding paydirt to tie it up with 6:30 on the clock. But two and a half minutes later, Brody put the Bullets back on top, circling behind the net before sending home another low shot to make it 6-5.
Hickman pulled the Gulls even with 3:35 left, picking off an errant Bullet pass intended for the goalie and shooting into a wide-open net. However, Dyer sent Gettysburg into the locker room with a 7-6 lead when he scored with 2:40 left, taking a pass from O'Donnell from behind the goal and depositing his third goal of the game.
The Sea Gulls held a 23-21 edge in shot in the first half and won 10-of-15 face-offs.
Salisbury tied it up for the fifth time (7-7) when Kevin Kustron scored on a fastbreak with 13:21 to go in the third quarter.
Although the Gulls out-shot the Bullets 14-6 in the period, Furshman allowed only one goal while making five saves. Sufrin and Duckworth then scored a pair of goals to give the Orange & Blue its two-goal lead heading into the final stanza. Waiting alone on the left wing, Sufrin took a behind-the-goal pass from O'Donnell before drilling in his second goal of the game before Duckworth backed into the crease to score with 35 ticks showing.
Notes: Gettysburg had won its previous six overtime contests and lost in OT for the first time since their 14-13 defeat to RIT in the 1999 NCAA quarterfinals… The Bullets had never played an overtime game in their previous six trips to the NCAA semifinals … The Bullets dropped to 2-1 all-time in overtime in the NCAA playoffs … Gettysburg defeated Salisbury 10-9 in double overtime in the 1997 quarterfinals and topped Denison 11-10 in triple OT in the 1994 quarterfinals … The Bullets lost for the first time all season when scoring 10 or more goals after going 13-0 prior to Sunday's game … Gettysburg also lost for the first time this year when scoring the game's first goal after going 11-0 before Sunday ... Dyer finished his career with 126 points, tops among all current Bullets, while Sufrin walks away with 96 career points.
