Salisbury's 11-10 overtime win against Denison in Wednesday night's NCAA Division III tournament quarterfinal at Sea Gull Stadium may have been a little too close for comfort. But in retrospect, the team may grow from that experience.
Coach Jim Berkman certainly was not happy that the No. 3 Sea Gulls (21-1) squandered a two-goal lead against the No. 6 Big Red (18-2) in the final four minutes of regulation. But Berkman said the players got a taste of what they should expect in Sunday's semifinal game against No. 5 Gettysburg (17-2) at 7 p.m. in Salisbury and perhaps the NCAA final on May 29 at 1 p.m. at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia if they are fortunate to get there.
"I think it was good that we were really in a battle for 60 minutes because that's what the next couple are going to be, too," he said Friday morning. "We were able to execute in the end and find a way to win, which gives you some confidence."
Asked if Wednesday's contest was a tune-up for Sunday's semifinal, Berkman replied, "I just think it's a similar environment. It's not a 16-5 game. You've got to make your decisions in the last four or five minutes of the game, and we've got to learn from some of the ones that weren't so good because we haven't had a lot of those battles. So it's good to kind of be here and reflect back on a couple decisions we made that hopefully, we won't make those same mistakes going forward."
The Sea Gulls will face a Bullets team they defeated, 10-7, on Feb. 27. Gettysburg is led by a trio of senior midfielders in Jameson Smith (37 goals and 19 assists), Paul Werner (34G, 20A) and Mike Distler (27G, 23A) who have combined to take 346 of Gettysburg's 679 shots.
Berkman said Salisbury's familiarity with the Bullets should help.
"There are no secrets to who they are," he said. "That first midfield line dominates the ball. Between the three of them, they've got close to 350 shots. We know who their shooters are and we know what they do and we know they play great defense. There isn't going to be any surprises. They are who they are, and the things they do, they do extremely well, and that's why they're in the semifinals."