October 29, 2007

Salisbury Men's Soccer Coach Gerry DiBartolo Records 300th Victory 

SALISBURY, MD - Salisbury University men's soccer head coach Gerry DiBartolo earned his 300th career win as his Sea Gulls defeated Hood College, 6-0, on October 20th, in a Capital Athletic Conference matchup at SU Soccer Complex in front of a crowd of 320 on senior day. DiBartlolo, now in his 26th season, is the 21st coach to reach the 300 win milestone in Division III history.

Salisbury (11-4-1, 6-1 CAC) scored three goals in each half and was paced by junior Romaine Bruney who netted a game-high two scores and also dished out one assist. Bruney scored the game-winning goal in the 14th minute on a Kyle Sterling (one goal, two assists) assist to give the Gulls a 1-0 lead. Sterling immediately added an unassisted goal five minutes later as he still leads the team with 13 goals, eight assists and 34 points.

Freshman Chris Finney ended the first half scoring for SU with a strike in the 25th minute off of a Scott Sparrow pass.

Bruney and Sterling combined on a double assist that lead to freshman Mike Napolitano's fifth goal on the season. Napolitano is the top freshman scorer for SU with five goals and 11 points. The Sea Gull scoring ended right before the end of regulation (87:08) with a goal from freshman Dave Corrigan setup by sophomore Greg Taylor.

Senior goalie Matt Blue (3-2-1) got the nod on senior day as he contributed 64 shut out minutes in goal for the Gulls and recorded one save. The SU defense has now recorded its 11th shutout of the season as it sports a 0.63 goals against average.

Hood (4-11, 1-7 CAC) was out shot by the Gulls 27-4. HC goalie Shawn Fernholz added 11 saves between the pipes for the Blazers.

The Sea Gulls recognized their four seniors who have helped the maroon and gold to a 59-13-4 record over the past four years, the 2004 CAC title and two berths into the Division III NCAA Tournament. Seniors Andrew Henciak, Zach Grubb, David Kroening and Blue have won over 80 percent of their games through their careers.

Salisbury wraps up its season this Wednesday as it travels to Arlington, Va. to meet up with Marymount (Va.) University for its final CAC and regular-season game of the year. The Sea Gulls are currently tied for first-place in the CAC with York (Pa.) College as SU defeated YCP on the road earlier this season 1-0.

DiBartolo is now ranked 21st on the all-time NCAA Division III men's wins list. The Frostburg State University graduate has led SU to its 16th straight winning season as well as winning five CAC championships with six NCAA tournament appearances in his 26 year tenure.

Release rerun with permission from Salisbury sports information office.