Caruso named Player of the Year, Gulls 5-for-7 in national awards
BALTIMORE – The United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) announced its 2007 special player awards and Salisbury University, the 2007 NCAA Division III national champions, was honored with an amazing five of the seven Division III postseason awards. Senior Chase Caruso led the way as he was named the National Player of the Year and Long-Stick Midfielder of the Year in Division III.

Caruso, the 2006 and 2007 Capital Athletic Conference Player of the Year and two-time first-team All-American, ranked second on the team in caused turnovers with 40 and corralled 37 ground balls. The Huntington, N.Y. native is the seventh Sea Gull to be named Player of the Year and first since Justin Smith took home the honor in 2005. Salisbury has won four of the last five national Player of the Year awards.

Caruso was named Long-Stick Midfielder of the Year for the second consecutive year. Salisbury has been the only school to win this award since it was first given out in 2003 to Sean White (three-time national LSM player of the year)

The Lt. Donald McLaughlin, Jr. Award, the top midfielder in the country, went to sophomore first-team All-American standout Kylor Berkman. The Salisbury, Md. native ranked first on the team with 44 assists and added 35 goals to rank him fourth on the team with 79 points. Berkman becomes the seventh Sea Gull to win this award.

Senior defensive midfielder Luis Gonzalez was named National Specialist of the Year. Gonzalez’s in-your-face defense ranked him fourth on the team with 26 caused turnovers while he scooped up 36 ground balls. The first-team All-American from Crofton, Md. also scored 10 goals and added seven assists to give him 17 points on the season. Gonzalez is the first Sea Gull to win this award.

The William C. Schmeisser Award, the top defenseman in the nation, went to two-time first-team All-American senior Chris Heier. He becomes the ninth Sea Gull to win this award since 1991. Heier caused 34 turnovers and picked up 46 ground balls to lead the most dominate defense in the nation. The unit only allowed a mere five goals a game.

The south region swept all seven Division III awards as Roanoke’s Jon Mason was named attackman of the year and Gettysburg’s Pat Vaughan was selected as the goalie of the year.

Salisbury has had 31 national position players of the year in its 34-year history and has won all of these awards under Coach Berkman’s 19-year reign.