After getting just four total saves in Saturday's 12-6 loss against Gettysburg, Salisbury coach Jim Berkman confirmed that he was opening up competition to find a starting goalie.
"We had a rough day in the cage on Saturday," he said Monday. "We definitely had some saves in that 5-0 run that we should've had because they weren't great shots.
"So at this point, the keeper position is a wide-open opportunity this week. The best keeper this week during practice will be the goalie on Saturday."
Senior Dan Feeney has recorded a 7.04 goals-against average and a .463 save percentage in four starts for the Sea Gulls (2-2), who dropped from No. 7 to No. 12 in the latest United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association poll. But in losses to then-No. 8 Lynchburg (12-7 on Feb. 14) and Gettysburg, he surrendered a total of 20 goals and made just 11 saves.
Freshman Anthony Stavrakis replaced Feeney with 64 seconds left in the third quarter and gave up four goals to the Bullets against just two saves for the final 16:04. Berkman said Stavrakis fared decently, but he is seeking consistent play before naming a starter for Sunday's home game against Ohio Wesleyan (3-0).
"We've got to save the ball," Berkman said. "That's what the goalie does. You've got to make some saves, you've got to come and learn how to play every day. I think that's half of our battle right now in the cage. We've got a good goalie on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, but we've got someone who's Swiss cheese on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
"Part of being a great goalie is you've got to learn how to play every day. And we've had a lot of real inconsistency throughout the first couple weeks, and I think that's led to our inconsistency in the game because we don't treat every possession and every play with the focus and concentration and all those other things that separates a good goalie from a great goalie."