Glen's Look on Lax
Random thoughts and topics from the world of lacrosse.
04/08/2008 By
Glen
I had a chance to catch my 2nd Salisbury game of the year last Saturday vs. Villa Julie and it turned out to be a nail biter. I saw them play the week before at Gettysburg where they looked really bad for the 1st half, and really good for the 2nd half. This game they looked really good for a quarter (outscoring VJ 6-0 in the 1st) and pretty bad for most of the other three quarters.
For a stretch of the game a lot of Salisbury fans and alumni were thinking this might be the day that lightning strikes; the day that the Sea Gulls lose their first game in CAC history. But in the end the Gulls showed the resiliency they have had all year and pulled out the victory. There were a couple close CAC games vs. St. Mary’s a few years back, but this is the closest Salisbury has ever come to losing a conference game. And this year's CAC playoffs will be the first year that Salisbury is not a sure thing to win it.
For the third straight game they came from behind to win a close game. Some will argue that this inconsistent play will come back to hurt them; whether it's vs. WAC in the War on the Shore, or in a potential rematch with Villa Julie, or in the NCAA playoffs. On the other hand you could argue that this will help them win tight games down the line, and give them the confidence to know they are never out of any game. I tend to think these hard fought close games will only help them. They can't get lazy; they should be hungry to prove they are a better team than some of these scores indicate. And at the very least, these games have been a lot more exciting then most of the games in recent years.
The two biggest factors in this game; sloppy ball handling and passing by Salisbury, and penalties. Salisbury had 11 penalties for a total of 8:00 minutes. Villa Julie scored 6 man-up goals. The refs were calling this game extremely tight, and many of the fouls for both teams should not have been called. But that’s beside the point and certainly not an excuse.
Salisbury's offense looked good in spurts but overall they couldn't string three or four passes together the way they normally do. There were a lot of dropped passes, bad feeds to nobody, and weak passes attempted while fading away from defensive pressure. It looked like the Gulls didn't have anyone who was easily beating their man to generate offense. As a whole the Sea Gulls look like a small team, especially in the middle of the field. They usually make up what they lack in size with great team stick work and shooting. But in this game both aspects weren't up to their normal standard.
Salisbury sophomore Mike Von Kamecke has been a great offensive weapon the last couple weeks. He really needed to get the ball more this game. He looks like someone who could possibly develop into a Justin Smith type player with his quickness. Villa Julie recognized this and was switching a close defensmen to play on him when possible. This left one of the Salisbury attackmen gaurded by a short stick.
For the Mustangs junior midfielder Greg Furshman looked good and tallied 5 goals and an assist. I'm not sure how many of those came on man-up.
Salisbury played three different goalies in the game, as coach Berkman did not seem happy with the performance of starting goalie Zach Krissoff (who played great in the Gettysburg game) or Mike Petti who went in when Krissoff was pulled. Riley Clark was put in to play most of the 2nd half. The three goalies only had 8 total saves, so it was not a great performance by the goaltending group. To Krissoff's credit I didn't think he looked bad enough to get pulled. I think you got to stay with your starter a bit longer. It's safe to say that all the SU goalie's confidence levels have taken a beating. This is something Salisbury definitely needs to work out soon.
Salisbury sophomore long-pole #15 Connor Burgasser looked like one of the best players on the field. He was throwing some great checks (although most didn't dislodge the ball) and looked good on ground balls and clears.
The press release below says there was a crowd of 500, and another article said 1,500. Obviously both are estimations because they weren't tracking the entrance, but I would put the crowd at more like 2,500. I would guess this is the largest crowd ever to attend a Villa Juile game. The facilities there aren't setup well. There was not enough seating or standing room for the crowd. Only one side of the field was open to fans; as a result people ended up standing 5 deep in some areas to see the game. Villa Julie's bathroom facilities consisted of 4 port-o-pottys. Obviously the school is in a bit of a growth mode and the facilities haven't caught up yet.
However, it was a great atmosphere at the game. A lot of students were tailgating and drinking; which made for a nice lively/obnoxious crowd. Players always love those types of environments. It's great to hear some heckling from the crowd. Although, the Villa fans really do need to get a bit more creative. Most of their chants consisted of "Salisbury Sucks." A little more imagination would be nice, but I think this might have been the first time attending a game for a lot of the fans. But I do commend Villa Julie for allowing fans to tailgate. Salisbury has never allowed it.
As an alum, it's been great to see Salisbury dominate over the past few years. But it's also exciting to see them in some close battles this year. And it's also great to know they will be returning a lot of talent next year.
Salisbury certainly has everything they need for another championship run. Their offense led by Kylor Berkman can put together 3 or 4 goal runs very quickly. Their defense with a lot of talented poles has proved they can shut down high powered offenses (Gburg) when they play well. So even though many are waiting for them to fall back to earth in D3, I wouldn't bet against them making the trip to Foxboro.
Next game: vs. St. Mary’s Friday night under the lights. Should be a good atmosphere, hopefully some students actually turn out.
Press Release---------------------------------------------------------------
OWINGS MILLS, Md. - The No. 1 Salisbury University men's lacrosse team got by No. 12 Villa Julie College, 13-12, as the Gulls held the Mustangs scoreless in the final 14:40 of Saturday's Capital Athletic Conference showdown before a crowd of 500. The victory improves Salisbury's unprecedented conference win streak to 95 games where the maroon and gold is 76-0 in the CAC regular season.
Salisbury (13-0, 6-0 CAC) cycled through three goalies in the match-up, as junior Riley Clark (two saves) earned his 11th victory of the season, in relief, as he allowed just one goal in the final 19:22 to close out the game for SU. Junior Zach Krissoff (six saves) started his second consecutive game where he allowed nine goals in over 37 minutes. Fellow junior Mike Petti (0 saves) came in for a few minutes but surrendered two Mustangs goals.
The Gulls made it tough for their goal keepers as SU was at a disadvantage for eight minutes as they served time for 11 penalties. The Mustangs (8-3, 4-1 CAC) capitalized as they scored six extra-man goals while Salisbury was 2-for-6 on man-up situations. Salisbury battled through the adversity as it faced a 12-10 deficit with 14:40 left to play. The Sea Gulls turned the tide as they rallied to score the final three goals, all unassisted, to win their 36th straight game since 2007.
Junior Patrick Bonanno (one goal, one assist) started the comeback with a goal at 14:04 before sophomore Jake DeLillo (one goal, one assist) knotted the game at 12 with 6:11 remaining. SU midfielder Ryan Brown (10-for-21 face-offs) won the ensuing face-off which allowed sophomore Mike Von Kamecke (one goal, one assist) to win the game with a rip with 5:50 on the clock.
The one-goal victory was Salisbury's third of the season, and the second half comeback was the fifth in the last six games for the defending national champs. The uncharacteristic 12 goals allowed against the Mustangs is the highest total given up by the Sea Gull defense since the 2006 national championship game against SUNY Cortland. The Red Dragons won 13-12 in overtime.
Senior attack scoring duo Matt Hickman (one goal, two assist) and Greg Titus (three goals) led the way for the Sea Gulls as they each recorded three-point games on the day. Senior Bruce Richardson (two goals) rounded-out the multiple point games for SU. Salisbury scored the game's first six goals and led 6-0 after the first quarter but had the tables turned in the second when VJC scored six to send the teams into the half tied. The Gulls and the Mustangs were evenly matched as both teams got off 40 shots, VJC won 16-of-28 face-offs while both teams were nearly perfect on clears (VJC 21-for-21, SU 27-for-29). Villa Julie scooped up three more ground balls than Salisbury, 38-35.
Three VJC players combined to score 15 of the Mustangs' 21 points. Greg Furshman led the way with five goals, four of which came in a 10-minute stretch, and one assist. Steve Kazimer netted one goal and made four assists, while Nicola Bevacqua put in three goals and made one assist. VJC goalie Eric Fleegle recorded 13 saves against his former team in the loss. Mustang midfielder Brandon Hastings won 16-of-25 face-offs.
Salisbury will close out its CAC regular season schedule on Friday, April 11, when they host St. Mary's (Md.) College under the lights in Sea Gull Stadium at 7 p.m.
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