ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, May 13, 1996 TAG: 9605130117
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: SALISBURY, MD.
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
THE SEA GULLS keep their quest for a third consecutive NCAA Division III men's lacrosse title alive.
Roanoke College's long-awaited return to the Division III men's lacrosse tournament turned out to be a brief one Sunday against two-time defending national champion Salisbury State. The Sea Gulls overcame the absence of two of their top three goal-scorers to defeat the Maroons 17-8 and extend their winning streak to 47 games.
Jake Bergey and Dennis Leonard had three goals apiece for top-ranked Salisbury State, which improved its record to 14-0. The Sea Gulls will meet sixth-ranked Washington College, a 12-10 winner on the road against No.3 Middlebury, in a semifinal next Sunday.
Roanoke (11-4) led 3-2 before Salisbury State scored four unanswered goals in a span of 53 seconds starting with 6:42 remaining before halftime. The Maroons cut a 7-3 halftime deficit to 7-5 on a pair of Paul Baly goals to start the third quarter, but the Sea Gulls responded with six consecutive goals.
Junior attackman Jeff Jones had four goals and an assist for eighth-ranked Roanoke, which had not played in the Division III playoffs since 1992, when the Maroons reached the NCAA final. All-Old Dominion Athletic Conference attackman Billy Metz added four goals Sunday in the final game of his college career.
The Maroons and ODAC player of the year Chris Davin were successful in containing high-scoring Salisbury attackman Jason Coffman, who finished with two goals and one assist. The three points gave Coffman 445 for his career, breaking the NCAA record for all divisions set by Rick Gilbert of Hofstra with 444 between 1971-74.
Salisbury State had a big statistical advantage in almost every team category: 59-32 in shots, 16-10 in faceoffs and 71-60 in ground balls.
Each team was penalized 10 times, and there were two extra-man goals apiece.
All-ODAC goalie Chris Gordon had 17 saves for Roanoke, which held the Sea Gulls under 19 goals for only the second time all season. Salisbury State was without senior attackmen Mike Austin and Paul Smith, suspended for at least one game for a violation of team rules.
It was a big improvement over last year for Roanoke, a 30-8 victim when the Sea Gulls came to Salem in 1995. Salisbury State has not lost a regular-season game since 1992, when the Maroons defeated the Sea Gulls 15-10 in Baltimore.
LENGTH: Medium: 52 linesby CNB