Count Jim Berkman as one of those who was surprised by Salisbury's 22-5 thrashing of Roanoke on Saturday.
In what was billed as a showdown between the top two teams in the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association's preseason poll, the No. 1 Sea Gulls outscored the No. 2 Maroons, 15-1, in the second and third quarters en route to the convincing victory. The final score was a shock to many, including Berkman, the architect of Salisbury's nine Division III national championships.
"I didn't anticipate it was going to be like that," he said Monday. "We've had a couple good games with them, but we were fortunate to get on them, especially in the second and third quarters, pretty good. And we played pretty well. It was a good day."
With seven starters returning from last year's squad that walloped Tufts in the NCAA Tournament final last May, the thinking was that the Sea Gulls resided on one level and the rest of their competitors were grouped on a second tier.
Saturday's outcome would seem to validate the notion of a widening gap, but that's not the approach Berkman is taking.
"Well, I would say a couple things. No. 1, I don't think we're quite that good, and I don't think they're that bad," he said. "I think it was just one of those days where things kind of multiplied. We got on a little bit of a roll, our goalie made a couple of saves that maybe made it a little worse than it was. But also preseason rankings are based on last year, they're not based on this year. So sometimes teams maybe aren't quite where they're supposed to be at this point in the year."
Salisbury's 3-0 record includes victories over a pair of top-10 opponents in Lynchburg and Roanoke, but Berkman said those results haven't altered the players' attitudes.
"I don't think anything changes with regards to team morale," he said. "Obviously, playing big on a big stage gives your team confidence, and we've played a couple pretty big games already, and we're not even out of the month of February. So that kind of game experience is good. And we got quite a few guys a chance to get that game experience on Saturday that will hopefully pay some dividends down the road. But I don't think it's done anything for our morale. I think our guys know we're a pretty good team. We've just got to keep working hard and try to be a special team."