Sea Gulls

The second-seeded Salisbury women's lacrosse team overcame its first second-half deficit of the season as Shelby Nemecek (Liberty) broke a 7-all tie with just over eight minutes to play in an 8-7 victory over third-seeded Middlebury (18-3) in the NCAA Division III semifinals Saturday at Stevenson. The win sends the Sea Gulls to their sixth national championship appearance in program history, where they will face Trinity (Conn.) College, an 8-6 winner over SUNY-Cortland, today at noon.

Salisbury is the torchbearer for NCAA tournament semifinals, making 10 of the last 11 Final Fours. But Stevenson is beginning to establish itself as a regular in the semifinals. The No. 4 Mustangs (20-2) will be making their fourth Final Four appearance in the last five years when they play host to the reigning national champion and No. 12 Sea Gulls (17-5) this Sunday night at Mustang Stadium in Owings Mills. It is a badge of honor for a program that had not qualified for the NCAA tournament until 2009.

When Salisbury opened the 2013 season in defense of the national championship it had captured last May, the team limped to a 1-2 start and the thought of advancing to the NCAA tournament semifinals appeared to be remote. At least that was the way coach Jim Berkman saw it. “It was definitely a distant possibility at that time,” he said Thursday after recalling a 13-12 setback to Lynchburg on Feb. 16 and a 7-6 double-overtime decision to Washington and Lee four days later. “But by the same token, they were both one-goal losses and in both games, we had a one-on-one to win the game.

The cards did not look stacked in Salisbury's favor as the reigning national champion took on the unenviable task of trying to upend undefeated Dickinson. But that is exactly what the No. 12 Sea Gulls did as they evicted the No. 2 Red Devils, 11-9, from a NCAA tournament quarterfinal Wednesday. Salisbury improved to 17-5 and will meet No. 4 Stevenson (20-2) this Sunday night for the right to advance to the title game in Philadelphia on May 26. It is a development that coach Jim Berkman is thankful for. “It was a great win on the road against a team that had an unblemished season,” he said Thursday morning.

DIVISION III MEN No. 4 Stevenson (20-2) Coming up: Vs. No. 12 Salisbury, Sunday, 7 p.m., Mustang Stadium Comment: Of the reigning national champion Sea Gulls' 11 losses since 2010, five have occurred at the hands of the Mustangs. Junior attackman Chris Dashiell has recorded 53 assists this year, which is the third-most in a single season at Stevenson. No. 12 Salisbury (17-5) Coming up: At No. 4 Stevenson, Sunday, 7 p.m. Comment: The Sea Gulls hold a 10-5 advantage in this series, but the Mustangs won the most recent meeting, 10-8, on April 3. Senior midfielder Eric Kluge, who leads the offense in goals (39)

With Salisbury's offense averaging 16.33 goals per game -- second best in Division III women's lacrosse -- it can be difficult for even the best defense to get much attention. In Sunday's NCAA quarterfinal win over Franklin & Marshall, however, the defense stole the spotlight. If it hadn't, the No. 2 Sea Gulls (21-0) wouldn't be playing in Saturday's NCAA Division III semifinal. The Sea Gulls' attack struggled when the Diplomats put a face guard on offensive leader Katie Bollhorst, but the defense remained its usual stingy self and made sure Salisbury came away with an 8-6 victory in their closest call of the season.

Dickinson, the top seed in the South region, will make only its second appearance in a NCAA tournament quarterfinal when Salisbury visits Carlisle, Pa., on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the Sea Gulls, a 10-time national champion, will play in their 16th consecutive quarterfinal. Advantage, Salisbury? Coach Jim Berkman declined to declare that, but he did agree that the tension and pressure is turned up as a team advances deeper into the postseason. “Being at this point, there is more at stake, there is more tension, there is more urgency into the game,” Berkman said Monday.

No. 12 Salisbury's 7-4 upset of No. 8 Washington and Lee in the second round of the NCAA tournament last Saturday was immensely gratifying to the reigning national champion for two reasons. The Sea Gulls earned their 15th consecutive appearance in the quarterfinals since the tournament added a round prior to the quarterfinals for the 1998 tournament, and they made amends after dropping a 7-6 double-overtime decision to the Generals on Feb. 20. “It was nice to win the game because it obviously gets us to the quarterfinals,” coach Jim Berkman said Monday morning.

College track and field Coppin's Victorian captures 400 hurdles at IC4A meet Coppin State senior Jibri Victorian won the 400-meter hurdles on the final day of the IC4A Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Princeton. Victorian became the first Coppin State athlete to capture an IC4A outdoor title since Steve Delice won the 400 hurdles and the Eagles 4x400-meter relay team finished first at the 2008 championships. Victorian won the championship by finishing first in a time of 51.30 seconds.