How Salisbury Returned to the Mountain Top
By Patrick Twomey (@PatrickTwomey17)
February 16, 2024 - In 2018, the Salisbury Sea Gulls entered the national championship game hoping to complete the second three-peat in school history under head coach Jim Berkman. That year, the mighty giant of Division 3 lacrosse fell to Wesleyan after scoring only 6 goals, shocking the lacrosse world. To no one's surprise, they returned to the Final Four the following year, expecting to exact revenge and accomplish what they could not the previous year. They fell once again, this time in the semifinals to eventual champion Cabrini. After a cancellation of the season in 2020 due to COVID-19, the Sea Gulls set out once again to finish the job in 2021. Berkman led a dominant run to the national championship game, averaging over a whopping 23 goals a game through their 4-game stretch to reach the finals. They faced off against the undefeated RIT Tigers, ready to return to their former glory after a seemingly prolonged absence for the winningest program in college lacrosse history. A back-and-forth game came down to the final goal in a double-overtime thriller. RIT scored the final goal and were crowned while the Sea Gulls watched, receiving their second runner-up in three seasons. After another disappointing finish in the quarterfinals in 2022, their worst finish since 2015, frustration seemingly set in for the Sea Gulls. The perennial powerhouse of Division 3 lacrosse was invincible no more. For the first time since 1994, a four-year student-athlete wouldn’t win a national championship under Coach Berkman.
2023 would be different, it would have to be. Despite losing first-team All-American midfielder Jarett Bromwell, the Sea Gulls would return a majority of their starters, including the most lethal attack in Division 3 led by the program’s all-time leading goal scorer Cross Ferrara. The Sea Gulls had a rocky start to their 2023 campaign, though. Berkman looked at the early struggles, with a loss at Gettysburg and an overtime escape at Lynchburg, as learning experiences saying, “Every year poses new threats, and every year exposes new dents in your armor that need to be taken out… It was a learning experience and a growing experience and I think we did grow from that. There are no perfect answers and there are no perfect solutions as you go into a season…It’s a little bit of a journey and trials and tribulations to see whose cream rises to the top.”
The Sea Gulls did more than recover from those games, recording a perfect season the rest of the way en route to the national championship, matching up against the undefeated Tufts Jumbos. The final step on their road to coronation would have to go through the most dominant team in the country, the team that knocked them out the year before. According to Berkman, the game plan focused on a few specific points of emphasis. First, they had to win at the faceoff dot. “Obviously we had to steal a few faceoffs…we stole some faceoffs and got some possessions. We had to keep them from rolling on offense and feeling very comfortable and just getting the ball back, that's a tough out.” The Sea Gulls dominated possessions early, burying the first six6 goals of the game in the first quarter. It seemed as though their frustration had converted into blind will to achieve what had eluded them for so long.
Secondly, they had to handle the pressure the Jumbos applied that had been a crucial component to Tufts’ success that year. Berkman elaborated saying, “They were really good at double-teaming out of the box. We had really practiced some things to negate that… and we took that out of the game, period.” Tufts crawled back, which you would expect when the National Player of the Year, Jack Boyden, was on the attack for the Jumbos, but Berkman had a plan for him too, “We knew we had to slow Boyden down. We knew we probably weren’t going to totally stop him, but we couldn’t have him having a day with nine or ten points. If someone was going to beat us, it was going to be somebody else. We wanted somebody else initiating the offense, and somebody else taking shots.” Boyden finished with 1 goal. Every time there was the slightest opening the Seagulls shut the door. Berkman also applauded the offense saying, “We were very, very efficient on offense. We were very patient and made them play down low.” Sophomore midfielder Brice Bromwell recorded a game-high four goals, avenging his brother on the biggest stage. When the final horn blared, and helmets, sticks, and other assorted gear were thrown to the sky, the job was done. Pure bliss surrounded the encompassing crowd of family members and fans of the Sea Gulls, as they welcomed their beloved players into the stands with joyous embraces. For the first time in 5 seasons, the Sea Gulls were invincible once again. Berkman said of the win, “We were fortunate, the stars aligned and on that day those three or four things came to fruition and allowed for a great Gull victory.”
The story doesn’t end there. Now it’s time to do it all over again. Salisbury enters the year with the same mindset and swagger they always have, along with the Inside Lacrosse preseason number 1 ranking. The Sea Gulls are as loaded as ever, returning First-Team All-American midfielder Jack Dowd and defenseman John Defazio, along with attackman Jude Brown who received Third-Team All-American honors last season after posting an over 100-point season. Also returning are All-American Honorable Mentions Luke Nestor and Braden Glushakow. Losing the school’s all-time leading scorer in Cross Ferrara to the PLL, you would expect the Sea Gulls' offense to take a step back, but Coach Berkman doesn’t see it that way, “On offense, in some ways, we might be even better.” Salisbury’s method to success in the NCAA tournament hasn’t been by coasting through an easy schedule. In the first 6 games of the season Salisbury meets Gettysburg, Lynchburg, and York, all ranked in the top 11 of the preseason rankings. When I asked about Coach Berkman’s philosophy when it comes to scheduling he said, “With the way scheduling has evolved, now you’re backloaded with conference games, so the only way to get competitive out-of-conference games is you have to schedule them early…You try to get the best games you can so you can play at a high level and challenge your guys so they’re ready to play come tournament time.”
The make-up of this Sea Gull roster has serious championship pedigree. The offensive side of the ball is primed to be just as prolific as last season but might look a bit different with the departures of Cross Ferrara and Isaac Thrasher, but Coach Berkman is optimistic, “When you put new pieces of the puzzle in there, sometimes that piece makes the puzzle better than it was before.” Sophomore lefthanded attackmen Riley Strub could be one of those new puzzle pieces. Berkman has high hopes for Strub, saying “he has the potential to give us a dimension at the lefthanded attack spot that we didn’t have last year. He’s faster, he can ride better, he can dodge and get to the goal better, he shoots the living hell out of the ball, and he’s a great cutter.” Strub came off the bench last season but has been impressive so far, netting 6 goals in the first 2 games of the season. Those absences will also set the stage for Senior attackman Jude Brown to be the quarterback of the offense this season in an attempt to replicate last year’s monster production and Coach Berkman has full confidence in him in that role, “I can’t of anybody I’d rather have the ball in their stick than Jude Brown.” At midfield, look for Jack Dowd and Brice Bromwell to be the main scoring threats from up top, something they were very comfortable with last season, both posting over 60 points. Berkman is excited about the depth the Seagulls have at the midfield position this season, especially their second line consisting of Graduate student Josh Sanchez, Senior Charlie White, and Junior Ty Keaton, “this might be one of the better second lines at midfield that we’ve ever had…when the second line has played together that much and is that much of a veteran group, that group is awfully talented.” Rounding out the attack, Senior Joe Carozza could be the glue for this pointed attack as he scored at over a goal per game pace coming off the bench for the Seagulls last season. Graduate student midfielder Luke Nestor also looks to build upon a scorching campaign where he buried 49 goals and had his number called in crunch time and produced in multiple games last season, including a hat-trick in the national title game.
The Salisbury defense will also get a revamp from one we saw last season as well. The Sea Gulls graduate two of their three starting defenseman in Zach Timmons and James Gilfillan, leaving Senior John Defazio the reigns. Look for Towson graduate transfer Reagan McNemar to be a key piece in filling the void left by Timmons and Gilfillan. McNemar was the defensive team captain and started all 15 games for the Tigers last season. Berkman had high praise when I asked him about McNemar, “Reagan is a tough, old-school, mean right-handed defenseman with great lacrosse IQ. As far as his IQ and his abilities, he’s right up there with some of the best guys that have ever played here.” The real x-factor of this defense though, is defensive midfielder Braden Glushakow. When I asked Coach Berkman about an unsung hero for this squad, the first name he referenced was Glushakow. “A defensive midfielder that doesn’t get enough recognition, but he has something that most don’t”, said Berkman. Glushakow was the shield up top last season, locking down some of the country's best scorers from the midfield position, an invaluable piece to the puzzle with this defense when looking at the midfield talent across the country. A breakout season could be incoming for Junior defensive midfielder Simba Makawa who, according to Berkman, “has much improved”. Makawa was used on the defensive side of the ball in limited minutes last season, but his true addition to the team is his speed and clearing ability, where he was used as a secret weapon last year. The true backbone of this defensive unit, though, is junior goalie Nicholas Ransom. Ransom won the starting job early in the season after coming off the bench and never waivered. The junior goalie posted a .577 SV% in 22 games and provided a formidable final layer of defense for the Sea Gulls in their title run.
For Salisbury, the same rule applies every season. National Title or bust. There are no modified expectations on a season-by-season basis for Coach Berkman. This program is the standard for success across all college lacrosse. When I asked about the defense of the national title this upcoming season Berkman stated, “We are not as interested in defending as we are in pursuing…I’m not thinking about going back-to-back, I’m thinking getting us ready to pursue another run.” The Sea Gulls aren’t dwelling on past achievements but are more interested in future success, a recipe that has proven to be wildly fruitful under Coach Berkman. The sky is truly the limit for this team, but with the madness and parity that can come into play when the tournament begins, we will see if the Sea Gulls are ready to meet those expectations and bring another title home to eastern Maryland.
February 16, 2024 - In 2018, the Salisbury Sea Gulls entered the national championship game hoping to complete the second three-peat in school history under head coach Jim Berkman. That year, the mighty giant of Division 3 lacrosse fell to Wesleyan after scoring only 6 goals, shocking the lacrosse world. To no one's surprise, they returned to the Final Four the following year, expecting to exact revenge and accomplish what they could not the previous year. They fell once again, this time in the semifinals to eventual champion Cabrini. After a cancellation of the season in 2020 due to COVID-19, the Sea Gulls set out once again to finish the job in 2021. Berkman led a dominant run to the national championship game, averaging over a whopping 23 goals a game through their 4-game stretch to reach the finals. They faced off against the undefeated RIT Tigers, ready to return to their former glory after a seemingly prolonged absence for the winningest program in college lacrosse history. A back-and-forth game came down to the final goal in a double-overtime thriller. RIT scored the final goal and were crowned while the Sea Gulls watched, receiving their second runner-up in three seasons. After another disappointing finish in the quarterfinals in 2022, their worst finish since 2015, frustration seemingly set in for the Sea Gulls. The perennial powerhouse of Division 3 lacrosse was invincible no more. For the first time since 1994, a four-year student-athlete wouldn’t win a national championship under Coach Berkman.
2023 would be different, it would have to be. Despite losing first-team All-American midfielder Jarett Bromwell, the Sea Gulls would return a majority of their starters, including the most lethal attack in Division 3 led by the program’s all-time leading goal scorer Cross Ferrara. The Sea Gulls had a rocky start to their 2023 campaign, though. Berkman looked at the early struggles, with a loss at Gettysburg and an overtime escape at Lynchburg, as learning experiences saying, “Every year poses new threats, and every year exposes new dents in your armor that need to be taken out… It was a learning experience and a growing experience and I think we did grow from that. There are no perfect answers and there are no perfect solutions as you go into a season…It’s a little bit of a journey and trials and tribulations to see whose cream rises to the top.”
The Sea Gulls did more than recover from those games, recording a perfect season the rest of the way en route to the national championship, matching up against the undefeated Tufts Jumbos. The final step on their road to coronation would have to go through the most dominant team in the country, the team that knocked them out the year before. According to Berkman, the game plan focused on a few specific points of emphasis. First, they had to win at the faceoff dot. “Obviously we had to steal a few faceoffs…we stole some faceoffs and got some possessions. We had to keep them from rolling on offense and feeling very comfortable and just getting the ball back, that's a tough out.” The Sea Gulls dominated possessions early, burying the first six6 goals of the game in the first quarter. It seemed as though their frustration had converted into blind will to achieve what had eluded them for so long.
Secondly, they had to handle the pressure the Jumbos applied that had been a crucial component to Tufts’ success that year. Berkman elaborated saying, “They were really good at double-teaming out of the box. We had really practiced some things to negate that… and we took that out of the game, period.” Tufts crawled back, which you would expect when the National Player of the Year, Jack Boyden, was on the attack for the Jumbos, but Berkman had a plan for him too, “We knew we had to slow Boyden down. We knew we probably weren’t going to totally stop him, but we couldn’t have him having a day with nine or ten points. If someone was going to beat us, it was going to be somebody else. We wanted somebody else initiating the offense, and somebody else taking shots.” Boyden finished with 1 goal. Every time there was the slightest opening the Seagulls shut the door. Berkman also applauded the offense saying, “We were very, very efficient on offense. We were very patient and made them play down low.” Sophomore midfielder Brice Bromwell recorded a game-high four goals, avenging his brother on the biggest stage. When the final horn blared, and helmets, sticks, and other assorted gear were thrown to the sky, the job was done. Pure bliss surrounded the encompassing crowd of family members and fans of the Sea Gulls, as they welcomed their beloved players into the stands with joyous embraces. For the first time in 5 seasons, the Sea Gulls were invincible once again. Berkman said of the win, “We were fortunate, the stars aligned and on that day those three or four things came to fruition and allowed for a great Gull victory.”
The story doesn’t end there. Now it’s time to do it all over again. Salisbury enters the year with the same mindset and swagger they always have, along with the Inside Lacrosse preseason number 1 ranking. The Sea Gulls are as loaded as ever, returning First-Team All-American midfielder Jack Dowd and defenseman John Defazio, along with attackman Jude Brown who received Third-Team All-American honors last season after posting an over 100-point season. Also returning are All-American Honorable Mentions Luke Nestor and Braden Glushakow. Losing the school’s all-time leading scorer in Cross Ferrara to the PLL, you would expect the Sea Gulls' offense to take a step back, but Coach Berkman doesn’t see it that way, “On offense, in some ways, we might be even better.” Salisbury’s method to success in the NCAA tournament hasn’t been by coasting through an easy schedule. In the first 6 games of the season Salisbury meets Gettysburg, Lynchburg, and York, all ranked in the top 11 of the preseason rankings. When I asked about Coach Berkman’s philosophy when it comes to scheduling he said, “With the way scheduling has evolved, now you’re backloaded with conference games, so the only way to get competitive out-of-conference games is you have to schedule them early…You try to get the best games you can so you can play at a high level and challenge your guys so they’re ready to play come tournament time.”
The make-up of this Sea Gull roster has serious championship pedigree. The offensive side of the ball is primed to be just as prolific as last season but might look a bit different with the departures of Cross Ferrara and Isaac Thrasher, but Coach Berkman is optimistic, “When you put new pieces of the puzzle in there, sometimes that piece makes the puzzle better than it was before.” Sophomore lefthanded attackmen Riley Strub could be one of those new puzzle pieces. Berkman has high hopes for Strub, saying “he has the potential to give us a dimension at the lefthanded attack spot that we didn’t have last year. He’s faster, he can ride better, he can dodge and get to the goal better, he shoots the living hell out of the ball, and he’s a great cutter.” Strub came off the bench last season but has been impressive so far, netting 6 goals in the first 2 games of the season. Those absences will also set the stage for Senior attackman Jude Brown to be the quarterback of the offense this season in an attempt to replicate last year’s monster production and Coach Berkman has full confidence in him in that role, “I can’t of anybody I’d rather have the ball in their stick than Jude Brown.” At midfield, look for Jack Dowd and Brice Bromwell to be the main scoring threats from up top, something they were very comfortable with last season, both posting over 60 points. Berkman is excited about the depth the Seagulls have at the midfield position this season, especially their second line consisting of Graduate student Josh Sanchez, Senior Charlie White, and Junior Ty Keaton, “this might be one of the better second lines at midfield that we’ve ever had…when the second line has played together that much and is that much of a veteran group, that group is awfully talented.” Rounding out the attack, Senior Joe Carozza could be the glue for this pointed attack as he scored at over a goal per game pace coming off the bench for the Seagulls last season. Graduate student midfielder Luke Nestor also looks to build upon a scorching campaign where he buried 49 goals and had his number called in crunch time and produced in multiple games last season, including a hat-trick in the national title game.
The Salisbury defense will also get a revamp from one we saw last season as well. The Sea Gulls graduate two of their three starting defenseman in Zach Timmons and James Gilfillan, leaving Senior John Defazio the reigns. Look for Towson graduate transfer Reagan McNemar to be a key piece in filling the void left by Timmons and Gilfillan. McNemar was the defensive team captain and started all 15 games for the Tigers last season. Berkman had high praise when I asked him about McNemar, “Reagan is a tough, old-school, mean right-handed defenseman with great lacrosse IQ. As far as his IQ and his abilities, he’s right up there with some of the best guys that have ever played here.” The real x-factor of this defense though, is defensive midfielder Braden Glushakow. When I asked Coach Berkman about an unsung hero for this squad, the first name he referenced was Glushakow. “A defensive midfielder that doesn’t get enough recognition, but he has something that most don’t”, said Berkman. Glushakow was the shield up top last season, locking down some of the country's best scorers from the midfield position, an invaluable piece to the puzzle with this defense when looking at the midfield talent across the country. A breakout season could be incoming for Junior defensive midfielder Simba Makawa who, according to Berkman, “has much improved”. Makawa was used on the defensive side of the ball in limited minutes last season, but his true addition to the team is his speed and clearing ability, where he was used as a secret weapon last year. The true backbone of this defensive unit, though, is junior goalie Nicholas Ransom. Ransom won the starting job early in the season after coming off the bench and never waivered. The junior goalie posted a .577 SV% in 22 games and provided a formidable final layer of defense for the Sea Gulls in their title run.
For Salisbury, the same rule applies every season. National Title or bust. There are no modified expectations on a season-by-season basis for Coach Berkman. This program is the standard for success across all college lacrosse. When I asked about the defense of the national title this upcoming season Berkman stated, “We are not as interested in defending as we are in pursuing…I’m not thinking about going back-to-back, I’m thinking getting us ready to pursue another run.” The Sea Gulls aren’t dwelling on past achievements but are more interested in future success, a recipe that has proven to be wildly fruitful under Coach Berkman. The sky is truly the limit for this team, but with the madness and parity that can come into play when the tournament begins, we will see if the Sea Gulls are ready to meet those expectations and bring another title home to eastern Maryland.