SU Athletics [Men's Soccer:November 22]

* The Salisbury men’s soccer team, ranked third in the nation, earned its first trip to the national semifinals of the NCAA Championship Tournament with a 4-2 victory over Richard Stockton in Sunday’s sectional final in Salisbury. The Sea Gulls rallied from an early 2-0 deficit with four straight goals - all by junior Bill Whittington - to claim a spot in the final four.

* Salisbury (20-0-3) plays Messiah in the second national semifinal game in Greensboro, NC on Friday, November 26 at 7:30 pm. With a victory, the Sea Gulls advance to the national championship game on Saturday at 5 pm.

* Whittington tied the NCAA Division III Tournament’s single-game record with his four-goal performance against Richard Stockton. He is the third player to accomplish the feat, and the first since 2001.

* Salisbury is appearing in the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time overall and third straight year. The Sea Gulls received a first round bye in the 44-team field and began play in the second round with a penalty kick win (6-5) over Arcadia. SU then defeated Johns Hopkins 1-0 in the third round before rallying for the win over Stockton in the national quarterfinal round.

* Salisbury brings a 6-4-1 all-time record in NCAA Tournament play into Friday’s national semifinal game. The Gulls made previous tournament appearances in 1999, 2000, 2002, and 2003. Salisbury had advanced to the national quarterfinals (final eight) twice before (1999 and 2003). The Gulls lost 1-0 at Drew in last year’s quarterfinal round and 1-0 at Wheaton (IL) in the 1999 quarterfinal.

* Salisbury claimed the Capital Athletic Conference’s automatic bid for the 2004 NCAA Tournament with a 1-0 win over York in the CAC Championship Game on November 6. The CAC title is SU’s fifth in six years.

* The Sea Gulls bring a two-game winning streak and a school-record 23-game unbeaten streak into the NCAA national semifinal game. SU is also the highest remaining ranked team in the field. The Gulls have held the number three ranking in the NSCAA national Top 25 poll for the past seven weeks. The current ranking is the highest in the program’s history.

* Last weekend’s four-team sectional in Salisbury featured the NSCAA’s #2 (Hopkins), #3 (Salisbury), and #4 (Stevens Tech) ranked teams, as well as #15 Richard Stockton.

* In addition to the school-record 23-match unbeaten streak, Salisbury set a new team record for victories in a season in 2004. The previous record of 18 wins was set by the 1999 squad.

* Salisbury is 0-1-1 all-time against Messiah. The teams have met in each of the past two seasons. Messiah won 1-0 in the 2002 NCAA Tournament, while the teams battled to a 0-0 tie in last year’s tournament (Salisbury advanced with a 7-6 shootout win). Salisbury has never played Geneseo or Santa Cruz.

* Salisbury has outscored opponents 66-13 this season. The Sea Gulls average 2.78 goals per game while registering a 0.55 goals against average.

* Now in his 23rd season at Salisbury, Head Coach Gerry DiBartolo brings a 261-136-29 overall record into the 2004 NCAA national semifinal. DiBartolo has led Salisbury to seven straight seasons with at least 15 victories, and 13 straight winning seasons. He was also selected by his peers as the Capital Athletic Conference’s 2004 Coach of the Year, winning the award for the fourth time.

* In addition to tying the NCAA Tournament’s single-game scoring record, junior forward Bill Whittington also set a new Salisbury season record with his four-goal output against Stockton. Whittington now has 20 goals for the season, breaking the SU record of 18 set by Matt Bowman in 2001. Whittington is SU’s overall scoring leader with 46 points (20g-6a).

* Junior forward Christopher Mills is second on the team ins coring with 15 goals, six assists and 36 points. Mills and Whittington each have five game-winning goals in 2004.

* Led by three-year starter and two-year senior captain Markus Hunkeler, the SU defense has registered 13 shutouts in 2004. Hunkeler is a two-time all-conference selectee, earning first team honors in 2004 and second team honors in 2003.

* Junior goalie Jason Cranford has started all 23 games this season while posting an .854 save percentage and a 0.59 goals against average.

* Senior midfielder Dan Lader was chosen as the Capital Athletic Conference’s 2004 Player of the Year, and was one of five Sea Gulls named to the 11-player all-CAC first team. Lader leads the Sea Gulls with nine assists and ranks third on the team in scoring with 19 points (5g-9a).

* Joining Lader and Hunkeler on the 2004 all-conference first team were Mills, Cranford and junior midfielder Tim Lane. Whittington was selected to the second team.

* Junior midfielder Chris Tracy was named Monday to the 2004 Academic All-America first team, one of 11 players chosen nationally by the College Sports Information Director of America (CoSIDA). He is the only player from one of the final four teams chosen among the 33 players on CoSIDA’s first, second and third teams. Tracy carries a perfect 4.0 gpa with a double major in business finance and economics.

* Junior back Dan Thrailkill netted the deciding penalty kick in Salisbury’s second round penalty kick win over Arcadia. Following a 1-1 overtime tie, Thrailkill registered the deciding goal in the seventh round of the PK shootout to help the Sea Gulls advance to the sectionals.

The Sea Gulls celebrate their first-ever final four berth following a 4-2 win
over Richard Stockton in the sectional final.