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The men's lacrosse team captured its third NCAA Championship
in six years with a 13-6 victory over Middlebury in the national
championship game on Sunday, May 30 in College Park, MD. Game
MVP Brian Smith had three goals and one assist to pace the offense
and senior goalie Jason Tarnow registered a season-high 19 saves
as the Gulls scored the game's first four goals and never trailed. SU (18-1) set a new single-season victory record while playing
before the largest crowd in school-history (17,418).
As it had done in two previous playoff games, Salisbury jumped
to an early lead which it would never relinquish. Chris Turner
put the Gulls on the board with an unassisted goal just 1:28
into the game. Smith made it 2-0 less than three minutes later,
then Peter Troup added two goals late in the quarter to extend
the margin to 4-0. The Sea Gulls led 4-1 at the end of the first
quarter and 7-2 at halftime.
Each team scored twice in the third quarter, sending the Gulls
into the final 15 minutes with a 9-4 advantage. Middlebury tallied
the first score in the final quarter, closing to within four
with 9:01 remaining. But Tarnow, who had 14 second-half saves,
and the defense then shut the door while the Gulls outscored
the Panthers 4-1 the rest of the way to clinch the title.
The SU attack unit of Smith, Troup and Joe High combined
for seven goals and three assists. Defensemen Hirbod Azmi, Mark
Breier, Darren Geraci, and Jordan Austin teamed with Tarnow to
hold Middlebury eight goals below its scoring average. Unsung
heros for the Gulls once again included face off specialist Chris
Martin, who won 11 of 17 draws, and long-pole middies Glen Doss
and Dave DiPaola, who combined for 11 ground balls.
The lacrosse championship capped a banner 1998-99 athletic
year for Salisbury State, which captured six conference titles
and claimed the Capital Athletic Conference's All-Sports Trophy.
Seven Sea Gull teams were represented in the NCAA Championships
and 14 student-athletes earned all-America honors, including
eight members of the mens lacrosse team.
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