Salisbury's Sam Bradman was named the game's Most Outstanding Player, with seven goals and one assist. Salisbury athletics photo

The Salisbury men's lacrosse team claimed the program's ninth national championship with a 19-7 victory over Tufts in the 2011 Division III men's lacrosse national championship game in front of 18,086 in attendance on Sunday evening at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.

The 12-goal margin of victory is the largest in any of the Sea Gulls' nine national championship wins. All nine national championships have come under 23rd-year head coach Jim Berkman. Tonight's game was a rematch of the 2010 national championship game, which the Jumbos (18-3) won 9-6 to claim their first national championship.

"I have been waiting three years for this moment," said junior midfielder Sam Bradman on winning the national championship game en route to being named the game's Most Outstanding Player; the Canton, N.Y., native posted a game-high eight points on seven goals and one assist. The seven goals scored is a new single-game record for a Salisbury player in the national championship game, as Bradman surpassed former Sea Gull Sean Radebaugh's six markers in 1995. Bradman fell just one point shy of matching Radebaugh's nine points that he set in the 1995 national championship game against Nazareth.

"First of all, congratulations to Tufts. They have played an outstanding season and a two-year run," said Berkman. "We had three basic things that helped us to succeed tonight: transition defense, covering the crease and dodging-and-feeding and I think our guys really executed those things today."

The Jumbos (18-3) won the game's first face-off and quickly entered the offensive restraining box. Tufts midfielder Matt Witko fired off a shot but it was blocked by SU senior defender Collin Tokosch before senior goalkeeper Johnny Rodriguez scooped up the groundball to start the clear. The Sea Gulls (21-1) tallied their first goal of the game at the 13:18 mark as Bradman took a feed from sophomore midfielder Ryan Clarke and unleashed a shot into the top-left corner of the goal. The Sea Gulls followed up with a pair goals coming from the crease, with junior attackmen Matt Cannone and Tony Mendes netting goals. The three early goals forced the Tufts coaching staff to call a timeout.

Following the timeout, the Jumbos tallied their first goal with Geordie Schafer finishing off an assist from D.J. Hessler. Salisbury closed out the first quarter with goals from Bradman, Cannone and senior midfielder Spencer Smith to take a 6-1 lead; the 6-1 lead was the same score at the end of the first quarter of the 2010 national championship, only with the Jumbos ahead.

Tufts kicked off the second quarter with a pair of goals in the first four minutes to cut the deficit to three, but Mendes ended the run with an unassisted goal with 10:19 remaining in the frame. The Sea Gulls closed out the first half with unassisted goals from junior attackman Erik Krum, Bradman and Clarke to bolster the lead to 9-3 in favor of the maroon and gold.

At the half, Salisbury outshot Tufts 27-14, picked up 18 groundballs compared to 10 for the Jumbos and won 8-of-14 face-offs. 

Clarke tallied his second goal of the contest nearly two minutes into the second half to create a 10-3 lead for SU, before the Jumbos responded with goals from Hessler and a man-up goal from Ryan Molloy. Bradman ended the quarter with his fourth goal of the game, handing SU an 11-5 advantage.

The Sea Gulls added eight goals in the final quarter, which was the most goals in a quarter by Salisbury in a national championship game since the 1995 title game. Bradman posted the first two goals of the quarter, then closed out the scoring for the Sea Gulls with a man-up goal off an assist from senior midfielder Shawn Zordani with 2:41 remaining.

Bradman finished with eight points, which matched his career-high. Cannone (two goals, one assist) and Clarke (one goal, two assists) each collected three points, while Mendes (two goals) followed shortly behind with two points.

Rodriguez, recently named the Division III National Goalkeeper of the Year, claimed the victory with four saves. The Gambrills, Md., native was removed after 47 minutes in the net after suffering cramps, allowing senior goalkeeper Tim Swinburn (three saves) to close out the contest.

Tufts' Hessler posted a team-high five points on two goals and three assists. Molloy recorded two goals for the Jumbos.

Tufts freshman goalkeeper Patton Watkins played the first 23 minutes of the game while registering four saves, before being replaced by senior Steven Foglietta (three saves).

Tonight's national championship game was the final appearance in the maroon and gold for eight Salisbury seniors: Perry Craz, Nick Mooney, Rodriguez, Michael Schwab, Smith, Swinburn, Tokosch and Zordani. Over the last four years this group has compiled a 79-7 record (.918 winning percentage), made four NCAA tournament appearances, captured three Capital Athletic Conference championships and won both the 2008 and 2011 Division III national championship.

The championship is the 15th team title in Salisbury history. Along with the nine men's lacrosse titles, Salisbury has also earned five field hockey championships and one title in women's lacrosse. The Sea Gulls have also seen 10 individual national champions, five in wrestling and five in track and field.