A pair of Division III schools will get big-time exposure tonight.
M&T Bank Stadium, home of the Baltimore Ravens, will host the War on the Shore, an annual NCAA Division III men?s lacrosse game between Salisbury University and Washington College.
The 8:30 game is part of the Atlantic Coast Conference lacrosse tournament weekend taking place at the stadium through Sunday. It will be the 38th time that Washington and Salisbury have met since 1974.
Head coaches Jim Berkman (Salisbury) and J.B. Clarke (Washington) are eager for the opportunity. The game is normally rotated between the two campuses, but the University of Maryland ? host for the ACC event ?approached the schools about playing in Baltimore.
“The Ravens? people wanted to make it a weekend full of lacrosse,” Berkman said. Berkman is in his 18th season as the head coach.
“It makes the game bigger, and it is better for alumni in the Baltimore area,” Berkman said. “The game is among the best three college games at any level. It rivals the Hopkins-Maryland game. When it comes to this game, the record books are thrown out the window.”
Salisbury (16-0) is riding a national record 65-game winning streak dating back to 2003. The Sea Gulls won their 12th straight Capital Athletic Conference title and have won the past three NCAA Division III men?s lacrosse championships.
“I was hesitant because Salisbury is used to playing in the big stadium,” Clarke said. “One of our jobs as coaches is to give our kids good experiences, and these kids deserve it.”
“The emotions are going to be the same no matter where we play the game,” Clarke said.
Clarke has coached Washington for eight seasons, and the Shoremen were 11-2 before their final Centennial Conference game Wednesday, at Swarthmore.
Both teams have Baltimore-area players who are looking forward to playing on the big stage.
Salisbury captain Mike Edwards, a Calvert Hall graduate, is a junior midfielder happy to be playing near home.
“The rivalry is strong enough that playing away from the shore will help it. Baltimore has a bigger fan base to draw from,” Edwards said.
Matt Sparks, a junior defender and team captain for Washington, agreed.
“M&T Bank Stadium is a great stage for the game. (But) it could be tough for students to get buses to the games and get back to the Eastern Shore that night,” the Mt. St. Joseph High School graduate said.
St. Mary?s High alum Max Zarchin is the starting goalie for Salisbury. “My family will be there, my girlfriend?s family is going to be there. It is a big deal,” he said. “I was a little worried it might take away from the spirit of the game, but the same intensity will be there. I expect a lot of intensity from Washington.”
One concern that has been raised by students at both schools is the name: How can it be call the War on the Shore if it is played in Baltimore?
Washington senior Tim Kerr has the answer. “It is on the Western shore, so it is still on some shore,” Kerr said.
A defender and team captain, Kerr graduated from Mt. St. Joseph?s in 2002. “Baltimore is a great city for lacrosse. It will be a great crowd. People will be nuts,” he said.
