May 29, 2005

PHILADELPHIA - Salisbury junior attackman Chris Phillips picked a great time to re-emerge from a seemingly game-long slumber in today's NCAA Division III final against third-ranked Middlebury before a record crowd at Lincoln Financial Field.

But given the circumstances and the opponent, his timing should come as no surprise.

Phillips, held otherwise in check by Panther defenseman Ed Brown after netting the game's first goal, circled around Middlebury's Gabe Wood to an open area about eight yards from the goal and fired a left-handed shot past Alex Palmisano with 5.6 seconds left to lift his top-ranked Sea Gulls to a come-from-behind, 11-10 win and their third consecutive national championship. Palmisano had just saved a game-winning attempt by Justin Smith 10 seconds earlier, but Phillips got the ball and patiently went to work on Wood, who had spent much of the game guarding Eric Bishop. Phillips' winner gave Salisbury its sixth NCAA championship and NCAA-record extending 49th consecutive victory.

"I just put my head down and went for it. I knew I had to put it away," said Phillips, a native of nearby Media, Pa., who called playing in the NFL venue "the coolest thing I'd ever seen."

Phillips has proven to be the thorn in the Panthers' side, twice preventing them from adding to their three national titles. It was Phillips who ended Middlebury's three-championship run with an overtime goal in the 2003 final in Baltimore.

He may never have gotten the chance for glory had it not been for the stellar performance of Salisbury goalie Dan Korpon, who earned Most Outstanding Player honors with 12 saves. He made five saves in the fourth quarter, when Middlebury finally put Peter Mellen's dominant faceoff play to use in surging to a 10-8 lead. Mellen won 14 of 19 faceoffs, and freshman teammate Dave Campbell claimed four of five as the Panthers controlled play throughout. Middlebury held a 50-37 advantage in shots, and did experience success against Korpon in the middle two quarters with six goals. But the senior, who won his 76th game, made the saves when his team needed him to in the fourth quarter.

"Every big game that we've had a close game this year, he's had 14 to 16 saves. He's gotten no respect for four years because they've always said that everybody else was better," said Salisbury head coach Jim Berkman, who has guided the Sea Gulls to eight championship game appearances in his 17 years at the helm. "But to be a champion, you have to have a goalie, and I'm very proud of how resilient he's been. ... He showed today why he's the best goalie in Division III."

After Salisbury's Justin Smith provided the fourth tie of the game, at 8-8, with an assisted marker following a rare Sea Gull faceoff win to start the final period, Panther sophomore Nick Bastis tied a career-high with his third goal at 10:20, beating defenseman Tony Incontrera to put Middlebury ahead, 9-8. Less than two minutes later, Dave Leach fired a rocket past Korpon to put Salisbury down by two at the latest point in a game this year.

But a slash by Middlebury's Mike Murray, one of six Panther penalties, would prove costly. Mike Hurley scored an extra-man goal on an assist from Dan Boyer at 5:24. Jimmy Creighton then netted his second goal of the game just over a minute later to set the stage for the final moments. Korpon stopped a shot by Leach with about 2:40 to play, then corralled the ball and raced upfield to start the final possession. Salisbury effectively ran time off the clock and used two timeouts to set up Smith's attempt to win the game.

"These nine seniors have done something no other Sea Gull team has ever done, and that's win three consecutive national titles," said Berkman. "When you think about it, we've won 49 games in a row, and that's pretty incomprehensible. That's almost three years without losing a game, but we have a great senior class and great leadership, and we're very fortunate to be here today."

"I'm really proud of these guys and how far they've come during the year," said Middlebury head coach Erin Quinn, who concluded his 14th year at his alma mater. "We graduated 13 guys last year. Early in the year, some of the wins we had, we were young with a long way to go. We weren't thinking about sitting here and being disappointed with a one-goal, late loss against a great Salisbury team that's won their 49th straight game."

Nine different players scored for Salisbury, which finishes 20-0. Middlebury concludes its season at 17-2. It was the teams' fourth meeting in the NCAA championship game. The Sea Gulls have won three of those encounters. A crowd of 21,052 passed through the turnstiles for this game and the Division II final featuring Limestone and NYIT, largest ever for the Sunday of the men's championship weekend.

Salisbury	3	2	2	4	11
Middlebury	2	3	3	2	10

Goals: MC - Bastis 3, Sheehan 2, Cabrera, Foster, Herter, Leach, Mellen. SU - Creighton 2, Phillips 2, Bigas, Bishop, Dasinger, Edwards, Hurley, Olejniczak, Smith. Assists: MC - Bastis, Cabrera, Duke, Leach. SU - Boyer 2, Hurley 2, Bishop. Saves: MC - Palmisano 8. SU - Korpon 12. Shots: MC 39; SU 33. Ground balls: MC 50; SU 37. Faceoffs: MC 18-for-24; SU 6-for-24. Clears: MC 14-for-16; SU 19-for-21. Extra-man: MC 0-for-1; SU 2-for-6. Penalties: MC - 6/4:30; SU - 1/0:30.

Game Scoring Summary
Note: Assists are in parentheses
1st 11:37 Salisbury: Chris Phillips (Eric Bishop)
1st 10:30 Salisbury: Eric Bishop (Dan Boyer), extra-man
1st 5:21 Middlebury: Jim Cabrera
1st 2:37 Salisbury: Casey Olejniczak (Mike Hurley)
1st 1:13 Middlebury: Mark Foster (Dave Leach)
2nd 8:52 Salisbury: Jimmy Creighton
2nd 7:51 Middlebury: Henry Sheehan
2nd 7:05 Middlebury: Nick Bastis
2nd 5:49 Salisbury: Mike Edwards (Mike Hurley)
2nd 5:07 Middlebury: Henry Sheehan (Nick Bastis)
3rd 11:15 Salisbury: Justin Smith
3rd 9:22 Salisbury: Matt Dasinger
3rd 5:25 Middlebury: Aaron Herter
3rd 4:55 Middlebury: Peter Mellen (Jamie Duke)
3rd 0:27 Middlebury: Nick Bastis (Jim Cabrera)
4th 14:40 Salisbury: Jeff Bigas
4th 10:20 Middlebury: Nick Bastis
4th 8:48 Middlebury: Dave Leach
4th 5:24 Salisbury: Mike Hurley (Dan Boyer), extra-man
4th 4:01 Salisbury: Jimmy Creighton
4th 0:05 Salisbury: Chris Phillips