This stage doesn’t scare Kyle Tucker, nor should it. He’s won back-to-back national titles, a feat that any college lacrosse player would be proud of.

But the chance to three-peat this weekend when Salisbury takes on Wesleyan in the NCAA Division III men’s lacrosse championship game? That’s something even the senior defenseman, two-time All-American and Chesapeake Bayhawks draft pick realizes is special.

“This will be my last college lacrosse game, but I couldn't be happier with the way my career has turned out here,” said Tucker, a native of Chester Springs, Pa. “To go for a three-peat, it’s truly incredible. A lot of people don’t even get near that.”

Getting to this — captaining a Sea Gulls team riding a 14-game winning streak — wasn’t exactly given to Tucker, though. He had to earn it, even after playing in 22 games as a freshman.

Following that season — one that ended when Salisbury lost to Lynchburg in the NCAA — the team graduated close defensemen Austin Kemp and Knute Kraus, both All-Americans. So as Tucker sat down with coach Jim Berkman for an exit meeting, he tossed his name into the ring as a possible replacement for Kemp or Kraus.

The only problem? Tucker was small. Salisbury listed him at 6-foot, 175 pounds. Berkman had no problem telling Tucker he had to get stronger, and he sure did.

“It was like someone above helped him do it,” Berkman said. “He came back and did the bench press and benched 195 pounds 18 times or something. It was like, this kid has arrived.”

Taking a great leap forward wasn’t by mistake, either.

Tucker spent the summer of 2015 working out with his older brother, then a strength and conditioning coach at San Jose State. They’d get up at 5:30 a.m. to hit the gym, and then he’d work for a moving company for eight hours. With his brother’s guidance, Tucker even started eating upward of 6,000 calories a day to account for all the exercise.

“I remember asking Coach if there was an opportunity, and he said, ‘Yeah, but you’re going to get pushed around weighing this much,’” Tucker recalled. “Challenge accepted. I had to take what was mine.”

Fast-forward to his senior year, and Tucker is a three-time first-team All-CAC honoree who was also named the conference’s player of the year this season. Those honors, which he brushes off, come as he has anchored a defense that’s allowed just 7.11 goals per game.

Through all the accolades, it’s Tucker’s leadership that stands out the most to Berkman.

“He’s led a team that’s overcome a lot of odds and a lot of difficult situations,” Berkman said.

After defeating RIT in for their 12th NCAA title last season, the Sea Gulls graduated several players that accounted for nearly 300 goals, not to mention All-American defenseman Aaron Leeds and All-American goalie Colin Reymann. Then, just as the CAC tournament got underway earlier this month, sophomore defenseman Kevin Murphy injured his knee. There was plenty of adversity for Salisbury early in 2018, too, going 3-3 at one point, a stretch almost unheard of for the Sea Gulls.

Through it all, Tucker was their rock.

“Kyle has stepped up, been a huge leader and even more of a player, if that was even possible,” senior defenseman Will Nowesnick said. “He means everything to our program.”

More tangibly, Tucker is Salisbury’s lockdown cover man, a role he’ll again play against Wesleyan. Berkman made no secret of that, but didn’t get into specifics of whom Tucker would match up against. Early favorites are attackmen Harry Stanton, Ronan Jacoby and Carter Hawthorne, who all offer something different for the Cardinals.

Whichever mark Tucker is given, Nowesnick is confident his classmate will more than hold his own, just like he did in the 2016 national title win over Tufts attackman John Uppgren.

“That guy, he had no business playing Division III lacrosse at all,” Nowensick said of Uppgren, a Division I-caliber player now with MLL’s Atlanta Blaze. “We had Kyle on him and knew he was going to do a good job, but it was even better than we expected.”

Tucker limited Uppgren to one goal in the first 35 minutes as the Sea Gulls built a 12-4 lead. Uppgren and the Jumbos came alive late and rallied to within one, but Salisbury held on for the 14-13 victory.

“Personally, I love covering the best in the country,” Tucker said. “The competition drives me.”

So as all eyes turn to Salisbury and Wesleyan this weekend, some extra attention will fall Tucker’s way. Berkman didn’t hesitate in saying Tucker will go down as one of Salisbury’s all-time greats, and Nowensick called him a “poster child” for the program.

As for Tucker himself? He’s putting aside the bigger picture to stay focused on the task at hand, like any leader would.

“I want to keep everyone focused on why we’re here,” Tucker said. “I want them to know we're there for a bigger objective, a bigger goal.”

The Wesleyan game, as he put it, is all about finishing the job.