Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 5/28/23
From Press Release
A six-goal run in the first quarter and holding a high-powered offense to its lowest goal total all season propelled the second-ranked Salisbury University men’s lacrosse team to a 17-12 win over top-ranked Tufts for the program’s 13th national championship today at Lincoln Financial Field.
The 13th NCAA Championship matches the Division III record for the most national titles with Hobart.
Grad student Cross Ferrara (Appoquinimink-DE) capped a brilliant career with three goals and an assist for the Sea Gulls.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Sea Gulls came out on fire in the first quarter with a six-goal run. Brice Bromwell scored the opening goal of the national championship game a minute into the contest.
Jack Dowd found the back of the net at 3:30 into the game off an assist by Isaac Thrasher.
Luke Nestor and Jude Brown added to Salisbury’s lead with a pair of unassisted goals.
After a faceoff win by Blake Malamphy, John DeFazio let one rip from 20 yards out to put Salisbury ahead, 5-0, with four minutes to go in the first quarter.
A minute later, Bromwell capped the first-quarter run with a strike to push Salisbury’s lead to 6-0 at the end of the first.
Tufts chipped away at the lead in the early goings of the second quarter. Charlie Tagliaferri and Kurt Bruun cut the lead to 6-2 four minutes into the second.
Salisbury got those goals back and pushed the lead to 10-2 with four minutes left in the first half. Brown, Nestor and Bromwell scored unassisted goals followed by a Charlie White goal off a Cross Ferrara assist to tack on the eight-goal lead.
Bruun put away back-to-back goals, including one right at the halftime buzzer to send the teams into the locker room with a 10-4 Salisbury lead.
Tufts looked to mount a comeback in the second half with a 5-2 third-quarter run. Tufts cut the lead to 11-9 with just over a minute left in the third.
An extra-man opportunity led to a man-up Brown goal with 30 seconds left in the third quarter to extend the Salisbury lead back to three, 12-9.
Brown’s man-up goal at the end of the third kickstarted a two-goal run behind tallies by Nestor and Bromwell to put Salisbury’s lead back up to five, 14-9, three minutes into the fourth quarter.
After another Bruun goal, Ferrara responded with back-to-back goals to extend the lead to 16-10 with 4:33 left in regulation.
Tufts battled back with two goals in the final three minutes of the game but Dowd iced the game with an unassisted goal in the waning moments of the game.
SALISBURY GAME NOTES
Brice Bromwell paced the offense with four goals, three of which came in the first half.
Cross Ferrara, Jude Brown and Luke Nestor each netted a hat trick. Ferrara scored all of his goals in the second half. Brown scooped up four ground balls while Ferrara reeled in three rollers.
Jack Dowd put away a pair of goals with two assists.
James Gilfillan, Braden Glushakow and Simba Makawa led the defensive effort with two caused turnovers each.
Gilfillan along with Blake Malamphy each had a team-high five ground balls. Malamphy won six faceoffs.
Nicholas Ransom matched a career-high with 16 saves. He also picked up three ground balls.
TUFTS GAME NOTES
Tufts was held to its lowest goal total since its 17-12 loss to Union on March 29, 2022.
Kurt Bruun had a game-high five goals.
Jack Boyden recorded a goal and two assists.
Mason Kohn won 15-of-19 faceoffs with 14 ground balls.
THE WRAP
Salisbury wraps up the 2023 season with a 23-1 overall record. The 23 wins matches the Division III record held by the 2007 and 2012 Salisbury teams.
Salisbury University is a proud member of NCAA Division III with primary membership in the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference, along with the New Jersey Athletic Conference for football and men’s and women’s swimming, and the Coastal Lacrosse Conference for men’s lacrosse. With over 500 student-athletes in 21 varsity sports, SU is recognized as one of the most competitive intercollegiate athletics programs regardless of division, and dedicated coaches and staff that foster excellence on-and-off the field. The Sea Gulls have celebrated 23 team national championships, 24 individual national champions, 196 conference championships and 44 Academic All-Americans.