Salisbury University men’s soccer rallied from a two-goal deficit to defeat Richard Stockton College 4-2 in the NCAA Division III quarterfinals on Nov. 21, 2004, at The Island. Bill Whittington scored all four Salisbury goals, including the game-winning goal in the 88th minute, to secure the program’s first NCAA Final Four berth.
Third-ranked Salisbury responded after 15th-ranked Richard Stockton College scored in the third and 13th minutes. Whittington cut the deficit to 2-1 in the 17th minute, beginning a comeback that carried the Sea Gulls into the national semifinals.
Bill Whittington Completes Salisbury Comeback
Whittington tied the match at 2-2 in the 54th minute after an assist from Dan Lader. He then scored again in the 69th minute, with J.J. King providing the assist, to give Salisbury its first lead.
Christopher Mills assisted on Whittington’s fourth goal in the 88th minute. The goal completed the 4-2 victory and tied the single-match record for most goals in a Division III Tournament fixture.
Jason Cranford recorded three saves and earned his 20th victory of the season. The announced crowd at The Island was 506.
Salisbury’s Path to the NCAA Quarterfinals
Salisbury finished the 2004 regular season undefeated at 15-0-2. The Sea Gulls then defeated Gallaudet, Mary Washington and York (Pa.) by a combined 14-0 margin in the Capital Athletic Conference Tournament.
In the NCAA Tournament, Salisbury defeated Arcadia in penalty kicks after a 1-1 draw in the first round. The Sea Gulls followed with a 1-0 victory over Johns Hopkins in the round of 16 before facing Richard Stockton College in the quarterfinals.
The victory sent Salisbury to its first NCAA Final Four. The run ended with a 1-0 semifinal loss to Messiah College, and Salisbury finished the season 20-1-3.
Gerry DiBartolo Reflects on the Win
Gerry DiBartolo, Salisbury’s head coach during the 2004 run, recalled the team’s belief after falling behind and the atmosphere created by the crowd.
“That was a phenomenal game. Even after falling behind 2-0, the guys had this belief that we were going to pull this thing off. It was all really positive, and it was a team effort. We also had a huge crowd at the field [of officially 506], and that was back when you could still have couches on the side of the field to watch the game. (Some A.D. by the name of DiBartolo brought an end to that – we had to put fences up because we had to separate the field from the fans as part of an NCAA rule.) It was just a magical feeling, seeing it that packed and with people going crazy. It was wonderful.”
Dan Lader, Jason Cranford and Bill Whittington later joined the Salisbury University Athletics Hall of Fame in 2018, 2019 and 2021, respectively. DiBartolo was inducted in 2024.
The Salisbury University Athletics retrospective revisited the quarterfinal victory as part of its “Gulls Greatest Hits” series.
Maryland Sports Blog Take
Salisbury University men’s soccer turned a 2-0 deficit into a 4-2 NCAA quarterfinal victory against a ranked Richard Stockton College team. Whittington scored every Salisbury goal, while Lader, King and Mills each contributed an assist during the comeback.
The win also established a major program milestone. Salisbury’s undefeated regular season, dominant conference tournament and NCAA victories over Arcadia and Johns Hopkins set up the Sea Gulls’ first Final Four appearance before the season ended against Messiah College.
Source: Original report
