One of this year’s Division III men’s national semifinalists was practically a guarantee when February lacrosse got underway.

“You can write them in pen pretty much it seems like,” said Cabrini coach Steve Colfer.

“Of course they’re in it. They're the big brother who always seems to make it,” said Amherst coach Jon Thompson.

“I would expect nothing less,” joked Williams coach George McCormack.

Their comments, collectively, refer to Salisbury and what’s now 26 appearances in the national semifinals. But the other three — Pool B entrant Cabrini, as well as NESCAC rivals Amherst and Williams — are at this stage for the first time. That guarantees that at least one, possibly two, teams bound for the title game May 26 in Philadelphia, will make their first appearance.

In reaching this point, each also knocked off higher seeds. Williams traveled to RIT and won, 12-11, in overtime. Amherst visited Tufts and won, 13-11. Cabrini edged York, 11-10, in overtime. They were all tight games and celebrations were short-lived after. Just ask Colfer, whose Cavaliers needed 18 straight NCAA tournament appearances to finally make a semifinal.

“By the time the kids walk out of the locker room, it’s seeing your parents, spend some quality with them and let them enjoy the moment,” Colfer said. “Then it’s getting on the bus to head back to Cabrini and it’s time to rest, recover and put our plan together to try and be 1-0 on Sunday.”

That 1-0 mantra has defined Cabrini’s entire season, and it’ll be needed when facing Salisbury on Sunday. The Sea Gulls hold a 6-1 all-time series record, with their only loss coming in 2017. Earlier this year, the Capital Athletic Conference powerhouse program even handed Cabrini a humbling, 13-5 loss.

But the more compelling storyline comes from the North, where two of four NESCAC teams to make the tournament are still standing. And these two share quite the history together.

Amherst and Williams (alongside last year’s NCAA champion, Wesleyan) are part of the Little Three, which the NESCAC has longstanding roots in dating back to the early 1900s. The latter holds a 39-30 edge in the series, and won games earlier this year, 13-11 and 11-8.

Thompson actually feels that second loss, which came in the NESCAC semifinals back on May 4, was valuable in igniting Amherst’s NCAA run. 

“We shot ourselves in the foot a lot, and you do a deep dive of what we can better as coaches and as players,” Thompson said. “We’re not making any wholesale changes based on one win or one loss, but we felt we were able to make some tweaks and prepare us for a game like the one on Sunday. That opportunity by beating us a second time, it was awesome in resetting us.”

It also helps that Amherst has one of the country’s best attack trios in Jon Coffey, Colin Minicus and Evan Wolf, the two-time NESCAC Player of the Year. They’ve combined for 255 points this spring.

But that group, just like every other position on Amherst, has been hit by the injury bug at some point this year. If anything, Thompson said it’s made his team stronger.

“You can go down the line at long-stick midfield, in the goal, at the faceoff — it’s just been one [injury] after another,” Thompson said. “So it’s created some great depth in depth and talent and game experience. There’s belief that in one through 45, when needed, we can get it done. It’s really fun to see.”

For Williams, a different storyline has emerged. The Ephs are incredibly young, with close defenseman Cameron Brown the only starter who’s a senior.

The team’s stop top scorer, NESCAC Rookie of the Year and attackman Jake Haase, is a freshman. Same goes for defenseman Chris Burdick. Harry Gahagan, the Ephs’ starting goalie, is a sophomore, as is second-leading scorer Cory Lund. The team’s star midfielder, Brendan Hoffman, is a junior, as is long-stick midfielder Rock Stewart.

But McCormack, the NESCAC Coach of the Year, insists the seniors have taken a massive role in the Eph’s second-ever trip to the NCAA tournament.

“The point is we’re still senior driven, even if nobody sees it,” McCormack said. “It’s all behind the scenes. Our seniors have done an unbelievable job of leading by example, running our offseason workouts, but also buying into what I’m saying, what my assistants are saying and then being an extension of the coaching.”

Now as the games near Sunday, the pressure will ramp up on these first-time national semifinalists. But each belongs and does at least one thing extremely well.

Cabrini’s 6.14 goals against per game is third-fewest nationally, Amherst’s 18.10 goals per game is fifth-most nationally, and Williams has the most wins (18) for a program that began play in 1928.

And for all three, simply playing deep into May won’t be enough. They want a shot at the national championship, one that doesn’t come around too often. Or in the case of these first-timers, a shot that’s simply never come around.

“It’s not carrying the weight of it being historic, something we’ve never done before,” McCormack said. “We try to break it down to the most simple components and be like we have another opponent, another game. If we do what we do to the best of our ability, we’ll have a chance at the end.”

Added Colfer: “Every time we advanced, the unfortunate reality is you have to play a better team than you just got done playing. There’s no doubt in my mind that it’s the case now more than ever.”