For 13 years, since Salisbury University joined the Capital Athletic Conference in 1994-95, teams have lined up to knock off the Sea Gulls.  Every year, coach Jim Berkman's squad has answered the challenge by going undefeated in CAC play.  Since the inception of the CAC Tournament in 1999, the Gulls have also won every conference post-season contest. 
    Eight times during that span (and 10 times in team history), SU went on to play in the NCAA Division III championship game, including each of the past five years.  The Sea Gulls have won seven national championships, six since joining the CAC and four in the last five years. 
    SU, the defending national champion, is the No. 1-ranked team in the country entering the 2008 campaign.  Seven CAC opponents, including newcomer Wesley, will get another opportunity to be the first team to hand the Gulls a conference loss this spring.
    The chase for the 2008 CAC crown begins Saturday when Salisbury opens the season Saturday (2/16) at home with a non-conference battle against Virginia Wesleyan.  St. Mary's and Hood play the first CAC match of the year on Tuesday, Feb. 19.  Four days later (2/23), all eight teams play the first full weekend slate, including a CAC showdown between St. Mary's at Villa Julie.
    Here is a look at the eight CAC teams heading into the 2008 season:
    HOOD, under the direction of first-year coach and former Blazer assistant Eric Dummann, will once again tackle one of the most challenging schedules in NCAA Division III.  Four of Hood's 2008 opponents are ranked in the top 15 in the nation in the USILA Preseason Poll. The Blazers welcome back 10 letterwinners, including the squad's top
four scorers from 2007.
    MARY WASHINGTON will look to a group of newcomers to fill the void left by nine departed seniors from 2007. Seniors Matt Weiss, Brad Matson, Eric Everitt, Scott Fletcher, and Matt Weiss provide leadership for Kurt Glaeser's Eagles.
    MARYMOUNT returns eight starters from last season, including junior attack Kevin Conklin (2007 Second Team All CAC; 2006 CAC Rookie of the Year) and goalkeeper Alex Hammer (2006 First Team All CAC, 2005 CAC Rookie of the Year).  Coach Jon Reynolds brought in the team’s largest recruiting class, along with transfers from Ithaca College and Towson University who should get significant playing time this season.
    SALISBURY, The NCAA Division III national champions, enter the 2008 campaign ranked No. 1 in three different preseason polls. The Sea Gulls will be led by preseason Player of the Year and Midfielder of the Year Kylor Berkman. Senior Matt Hickman enters this season as the preseason Attackman of the Year. Both Berkman and Hickman were named to the Face-Off Yearbook preseason All-American first team. Senior attackman Greg Titus was named to the preseason All-American second team while senior defenseman Ben Sandlin was named to the third team. Long-stick midfielder Ryan Browning was an honorable mention selection. The same publication picked Salisbury to win the CAC championship. Head coach Jim Berkman enters his 20th season at SU one win shy of earning his 300th career win at Salisbury. Berkman currently has a career record of 308-34 in 21 seasons. He is 18 wins shy of tying the all-time NCAA victory mark of 326 held by retired Army coach Jack Emmer.
    The 2007 CAC Co-Rookie-of-the-Year, Ryan Alexander, returns for ST. MARY'S this season.  Alexander led the team in scoring as a freshman last season and he looks to pick up where he left off a year ago.  St. Mary’s will look to replace the void left by the graduation of two-time All-American defenseman, Michael Alcamo, who led the conference in ground balls a year ago.
    In their Capital Athletic Conference debut last year, VILLA JULIE finished second with a record of 11-5. Making program history, the pre-season standings in Lacrosse Magazine showed the Mustangs ranked 20th in its list of Division III schools. VJC's Jimmy Dailey was chosen as a pre-season All-American and awarded first team All-CAC, and CAC Co-Rookie of the year in 2007. Dailey totaled 60 points on the year and led the team in scoring with 32 goals, 7 of which were game winning. The Mustangs will also return three players that earned CAC 2nd Team honors, Nicola Bevacqua, Greg Furshman, and Cole Mueller.
    WESLEY looks to continue its string of recent success in its first CAC season.  Four of the seven players with double digit point totals in 2007 return to this year's lineup, including All-Pennsylvania Athletic Conference (PAC) selection and team captain Nick Pisacano, the team’s leading scorer in 2007.  GK Jim McCleaft was a two-time All-PAC selection before missing most of last season with an injury.  He and Kirk Waldie, another All-PAC selection, who led Wesley in ground balls and caused turnovers, will lead the defense.  The Wolverines finished second in the PAC in 2007, falling to Cabrini in the conference championship.
    YORK enters 2008 with high expectations after a solid 2007. The Spartans finished 4-4 in the CAC last year and continue to make strides. York’s lone All-CAC selection, defender Steve Mersinger, returns to anchor the Spartan defensive unit. York’s top returning players include midfielder Chris Chappelle, midfielder Ryan Schab, attackman Ryan McNicholas, midfielder Rob Marine, defender James Greenwood, and goalkeeper Matt Keeler.