‘Short frame’ is a boost for Salisbury’s title hopes
Kalama helps lead attack as Sea Gulls seek 12th national championship
On a Salisbury men’s lacrosse team led offensively by senior attackmen Nathan Blondino (NCAA Division III-leading 131 points) and Nick Garbarino (team-best 67 goals), it’s easy for Carson Kalama to get lost in the crowd. Sometimes literally.
Kalama, a senior crease attackman who graduated from Bel Air, is the shortest player on the roster at 5 feet 5. But he has scored a career-high 65 goals this spring and 196 in his career thanks to what he called his “short frame.”
“I’ve learned how to play with it,” Kalama said. “I’m able to hide behind guys and get open, run off picks on the inside. I think defenders find it kind of hard to keep track of me in the middle, and that’s how I’ve been able to get a lot of my goals this year and throughout my career. So I think over the years, I’ve been able to use my short frame to my advantage.”
Kalama will likely be instrumental in whether the 11-time national champion Sea Gulls (21-1), the top seed in the South Region of the NCAA tournament, can defeat the Rochester Institute of Technology (20-2), the No. 1 seed in the North, in Sunday’s title game at 5 p.m. at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. He has 14 goals and four assists in four postseason games, and Tigers coach Jake Coon sounded familiar with Kalama during a Tuesday conference call.
“That he’s 5-5 means nothing to me,” Coon said. “He plays big, he’s got great hands and finishing ability. The kid can flat-out finish the ball. I don’t particularly look at size too much in terms of 5-5, 6-5, it doesn’t really matter. We’re just trying to figure out a way to defend their entire group. He’s part of the group.”
As prolific as Kalama has been at putting the ball in the net, he also has a knack for picking it up. He leads Salisbury’s offensive players with 51 ground balls, which is nine shy of his career best set a year ago.
“He’s just a good, all-around lacrosse player,” Sea Gulls coach Jim Berkman said. “When you talk about ground balls, he’s one of the best on our team even though he doesn’t have the build of a guy that you would think would have a lot of ground balls. Carson can hold the ball against anybody.”
Kalama, who had two goals and one assist in the Sea Gulls’ 14-13 win over Tufts in last year’s title game, said it would mean a lot to bring home back-to-back NCAA crowns.
“You come to Salisbury to win national championships,” he said. “So I think ending my career on a high note and winning another national championship would mean a lot and not just for me, but for all of the seniors on this team. It’s going to be a great weekend, and we’re looking forward to winning that 12th national championship.”