FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Sunday’s Division III men’s lacrosse title game promised an offensive bonanza, with a pair of top-five offenses colliding at Gillette Stadium.

There was one complicating factor: The Salisbury defense had other ideas.

The Sea Gulls clamped down on the potent Tigers in the ballyhooed first meeting between the two powers, propelling Salisbury to a 15-7 victory.

Carson Kalama had four goals and an assist to earn most outstanding player honors and both Josh Melton and Garrett Reynolds scored three times for Salisbury as it won its second consecutive national championship.

But this was a day for Salisbury’s stellar defense, one anchored by goalie Colin Reymann (12 saves) and featuring a trio of close defensemen coach Jim Berkman conceded “might be the best” of his long trophy-littered tenure.

Will Nowesnick returned after missing a tight semifinal defeat of Denison with a concussion and helped hold RIT attackman Ryan Lee (65 goals this season) to a goal on three shots.

“The D played phenomenal, just as they do day in and day out,” Reymann said. “They’re truly the best defense in the country, and I get to see it six days a week.”

The Sea Gulls (22-1) earned their 12^th national title, all since 1994. The rest of Division III has combined for 12 championships in that span, and Salisbury is within one of Hobart’s all-time record for D-III titles.

Braden Wallace scored four times for the Tigers (20-3), who have lost in their two trips to the championship game. It was RIT’s most lopsided loss since a 21-11 setback against Tufts in a 2014 NCAA semifinal.

“You could see they were a little more comfortable than us,” Wallace said. “They’ve obviously been here and won it last year. That’s a big factor in the game. That’s on us.”

Contrary to expectations, there wasn’t much scoring in the first quarter. RIT struck first, but Salisbury tossed in two goals to claim a lead it would never relinquish.

The Tigers were out of sync from the start, committing seven of their 15 turnovers in the first quarter.

“Our turnovers on offense, we started off with what seemed like a bunch,” Lee said. “Those definitely killed us.”

Salisbury threatened to blow it open in the middle of the second quarter, but RIT closed within 6-4 at the break. But the Sea Gulls dominated possession for much of the second half to pull away.

Some of it was a function of penalties, including three in the third quarter. Salisbury was content to spin it around and methodically look for shots, wearing down the RIT defense in the process.

But the greatest issue for the Tigers was probably their inability to pick much up off the ground after the break.

“I thought our third period was terrible, probably the difference in the game,” RIT coach Jake Coon said. “The penalties were one part, but the glaring stat I’m looking at is the 18-5 groundballs in the third period. That’s the game right there. You can’t give a patient offense like that 18 groundballs. They’re going to make you pay, and they did.”

RIT provided a hint of getting back into it early in the fourth quarter when Wallace scored to make it 12-7. But after the ensuing faceoff, Salisbury long pole Cory Berry poked it away and defenseman Austin Leeds picked it up and led a transition break that ended with Kalama’s fourth goal of the day and 200^th of his career.

Just like that, RIT’s hopes were gone thanks in large part to the Sea Gulls’ skill and poise.

“It was just a calm, calm group of guys,” Kalama said. “We’ve been there, so we knew what to expect. We didn’t let the emotion of the game get to us.”

The Tigers wouldn’t score again, sputtering to their lowest-scoring game since March 25 and their second-lowest output of the season. RIT fell to 0-3 when failing to reach the 10-goal plateau this season.

As for Salisbury, it must make room in an already stuffed trophy case for another championship prize. And it ends a run for a senior class that started their careers in the national title game, only to endure a rare five-loss season before rallying for back-to-back titles while losing just two games over the last two years.

“It’s right up there with the greatest classes,” Berkman said. “They played in three championship games and won two. They won [83] games in their four-year career, which is kind of unheard of in the game of lacrosse. It’s a pretty special group.”