Cortland

A loss tends to turn coaches into surgeons, dissecting what went wrong and trying to make repairs. Stevenson coach Paul Cantabene doesn't like losing, but he chose to look at the silver lining from Saturday's 13-9 loss to No. 3 Cortland. “We know we can make plays, and we know we can play with the best teams in the country,” he said Monday. “And we have to. No other team is playing three of the top five teams in the country in nine days [Cantabene was referring to a March 10 loss to then-No.

Sunday's NCAA Division III tournament final at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia will be the biggest stage for No. 4 Stevenson and No. 3 Rochester Institute of Technology as both programs will make their first appearance in a national title game. To get there, both teams had to get through their greatest enemies. The Mustangs (21-2) waylaid No. 12 Salisbury, 12-6, handing the reigning national champion its worst loss since an 11-5 setback to SUNY-Cortland on March 16, 2002.

No. 1 Johns Hopkins allowed eight runs in both the second and fifth innings as its season came to an end with a 23-8 loss to No. 9 Cortland in a Division III College World Series elimination game Sunday in Grand Chute, Wis. The Red Dragons (38-9-1) pounded out 26 hits and benefited from three Blue Jays errors, all in the second inning. Chris Huisman (Archbishop Spalding), Brian Youchak and John Swarr all hit solo home runs in the sixth inning, setting a Division III College World Series team record for homers in an inning.

Major League Lacrosse Loyola U. alum Sawyer named Rookie of Week after debut Former Loyola University standout Mike Sawyer scored a goal and assisted on two more in his professional debut for his hometown Charlotte Hounds on Friday at the Hamilton Nationals, earning Major League Lacrosse Rookie of the Week honors. His first assist came just over eight minutes into the second quarter as he fed Jovan Miller for the fifth goal in a 6-0 Charlotte run. He then scored his first professional goal 44 seconds into the fourth quarter, with the feed coming out of a familiar stick, that of fellow Loyola alumnus Eric Lusby (Severna Park)

Wednesday night's 7-5 victory over York helped No. 9 Stevenson improve to 5-1 with the lone loss occurring last Saturday against No. 4 Lynchburg. The Mustangs figure to get a stiffer test this Saturday when they must travel and meet No. 3 Cortland. In fact, the team's next two contests against the Red Dragons (3-0) and No. 2 Tufts (2-0) might provide the players and coaches with some context on their strength as a national championship contender. “I think that's probably a fair assessment,” coach Paul Cantabene said Thursday.

Shawn Zordani scored the game-winner with 3:13 left to lift Salisbury men (5-0) to a 12-11 victory over Cortland (1-2) in Haverford, Pa. More men: Host McDaniel (1-3) - led by D.J. Rickels with four goals - held Mary Washington (2-3) scoreless in the second half but came up short, 10-9. ... Hood (3-3) gave up the halftime lead as visiting Neumann outscored the Blazers 4-2 in the third quarter for a 13-12 victory. ... Matt Lewis had a hat trick in a losing effort as host Washington College (2-2)

Ryan Simensky scored the game-winner from 15 yards out as host Cortland State edged Wesleyan, 7-6, in overtime in an NCAA Division III men's semifinal yesterday. The Red Dragons (17-3) will face defending national champion Salisbury (20-0) in the final Sunday at 1 p.m. at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. Cortland State trailed 12-11 before Kyle Lambert tied the score with 6:09 left and sent the game into overtime. Dowling 16, Mercyhurst 4 -- The Golden Lions (12-1), led by Ryan Campbell and Chris DuPignac with three goals each, jumped to a 5-1 lead in the first half and beat the Lakers (12-3)

Kim Rementer scored on a fifth-inning throwing error by Cortland State, giving Salisbury a one-run lead it would not relinquish as the Sea Gulls opened the NCAA Division III softball championships with a 1-0 victory yesterday in Salem, Va. Rementer, who finished 1-for-2, reached on an infield single in the top of the fifth against Cortland starter Stephanie Adamshick. She then stole second, reached third on a single by Lisa Gentilella and scored when a throw from second baseman Jonna Ball got away.

PHILADELPHIA -- NCAA Division III men's lacrosse has a new ruler. When the helmets, sticks and gloves of players from SUNY Cortland flew into the air after Mike Felice's game-winner with 2.2 seconds remaining in overtime, the long reign of Salisbury had officially ended with a 13-12 defeat yesterday at Lincoln Financial Field. The result halted the three-year championship run of the top-seeded Sea Gulls, whose 69-game winning streak - the longest ever in lacrosse in any college division - was ended in a heartbeat before a record 23,990 fans for the divisions II and III doubleheader.

If you think Salisbury is going to get after SUNY Cortland in the NCAA Division III men's lacrosse final this afternoon, you should have seen the Sea Gulls compete last fall. Since April 2003, the only thing between Salisbury and perfection is an overtime loss to Cortland in last season's final. They'll give championship weekend at M&T Bank Stadium a rematch this afternoon, but avenging the demise of an NCAA-record 69-game winning streak isn't behind the top-ranked Sea Gulls' 22-0 record.

Mark Pannenton hasn't wasted any time making an impression with the Stevenson men's lacrosse team. The sophomore attackman, who transferred from SUNY-Cortland, scored three goals - including the game-winner with 1:49 left in overtime - to propel the No. 2 Mustangs to a 12-11 decision over No. 8 Rochester Institute of Technology before an announced 418 at Mustang Stadium in Owings Mills on Wednesday night. Pannenton recorded five goals and one assist in the team's season-opening 17-11 victory over Nazareth on Feb. 16. In Wednesday night's extra session, he collected a pass from junior long-stick midfielder Warren Pumphrey, settled his feet and bounced a low shot from the left wing inside the right side of the net. "Warren obviously had a great ground ball up the midfield, and he just brought the ball up, drew one slide and put it right in my stick," Pannenton said.

It's been a long time since Salisbury hasn't entered a season ranked atop the preseason polls, but that's the scenario facing the 10-time national champion this spring. The Sea Gulls, who have captured the last two NCAA titles, are ranked No. 3 in polls compiled by both Inside Lacrosse and Lacrosse Magazine. Inside Lacrosse has Stevenson, Salisbury's former rival in the Capital Athletic Conference, ranked No. 1 and SUNY-Cortland, the team the Sea Gulls beat in last year's NCAA tournament final, No. 2. Lacrosse Magazine has Cortland at No. 1 and Stevenson at No. 2. It's an unfamiliar position for Salisbury, but considering that the team graduated six starters - including its entire starting attack - from last season's squad, coach Jim Berkman said he understands.

Salisbury's run to Sunday's 14-10 victory over SUNY-Cortland in the NCAA tournament final at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., and the program's 10th national championship was fueled by senior midfielder Sam Bradman's six-goal, one-assist display and senior attackman Matt Cannone's two-goal, three-assist effort. The Sea Gulls' next leading scorer was their fourth attackman. Senior Lantz Carter scored three goals on four shots and added one assist, and each goal came at critical junctures.

The Salisbury men's lacrosse team got national championship No. 10. But it wasn't easy. SUNY-Cortland nearly matched the Sea Gulls goal-for-goal for the first three quarters before Salisbury awoke in the fourth quarter to secure a 14-10 victory in the NCAA tournament final at Gillette Stadium on Sunday afternoon. An announced crowd of 17,005 watched the Sea Gulls successfully defend the national title they won last year, improve to 23-0, and become the seventh squad under coach Jim Berkman to complete a perfect season.

Salisbury coach Jim Berkman is fond of saying that it's fitting for the only two undefeated teams in Division III - the Sea Gulls (22-0) and SUNY-Cortland (21-0) - to meet in Sunday's NCAA tournament final at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. Tyler Granelli has an entirely different motive. The junior faceoff specialist was cut by the Red Dragons in the fall of 2010 after compiling six points and 11 groundballs in 14 games as a freshman in 2009. Granelli elected to transfer to Salisbury and after sitting out 2010 to rehabilitate a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his knee, he has won 66.0 percent (446-of-676)

Salisbury will meet SUNY-Cortland in Sunday's NCAA tournament final with an unblemished 22-0 record, a 29-game winning streak and a history that includes capturing nine national championships including last year's crown. Perhaps as a reward for their season, the Sea Gulls led all Division III programs by placing seven players on the All-American first team as published by the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association ( via Inside Lacrosse). Senior Matt Cannone, who leads the country in assists (64)

Foxborough, Mass. -- It's not really fair to call Salisbury a Division III lacrosse dynasty. Dynasties, you see, eventually give way to other dynasties. What Sea Gulls coach Jim Berkman has built is more like an empire. And from the look of things, his program plans to rule forever. Salisbury won its second straight Division III national championship yesterday, defeating SUNY Cortland, 19-13, in front of an announced 24,317 at Gillette Stadium. It was the fifth title in the past six years for the Sea Gulls, who are 124-2 since 2004, and eighth overall.

NCAA Tournaments Division II men Sunday's final At M&T Bank Stadium N.Y. Tech (13-0) vs. Limestone (13-2), 3 p.m. Semifinals New York Tech 12, Le Moyne 1 Limestone 12, Mercyhurst 4 Division III men Sunday's final At M&T Bank Stadium Salisbury (17-1) vs. Middlebury (16-1), noon Semifinals Salisbury 15, Whittier 8 Middlebury 9, Cortland State 8 Quarterfinals Salisbury 26, Franklin & Marshall 8 Middlebury 21, Nazareth 12 Whittier 19, Hampden-Sydney 15 Cortland State 8, Hamilton 7

The semifinal round of the Division III men's lacrosse NCAA tournament is over, and the championship final for Sunday is set. Here is the schedule: Sunday, May 27 (at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.) SUNY-Cortland (21-0) vs. Salisbury (22-0), 4 p.m. A little history: The all-time series between these two programs is split 5-5. Salisbury has won the last three meetings and is 3-2 against SUNY-Cortland in the NCAA tournament. The Sea Gulls won back-to-back NCAA titles in 2007 and 2008 against the Red Dragons.

A loss tends to turn coaches into surgeons, dissecting what went wrong and trying to make repairs. Stevenson coach Paul Cantabene doesn't like losing, but he chose to look at the silver lining from Saturday's 13-9 loss to No. 3 Cortland. “We know we can make plays, and we know we can play with the best teams in the country,” he said Monday. “And we have to. No other team is playing three of the top five teams in the country in nine days [Cantabene was referring to a March 10 loss to then-No.