The War on the Shore is the annual Men's Lacrosse game between rivals Washington College

Washington College

Washington College is a private, independent liberal arts college located on a campus in Chestertown, Maryland, on the Eastern Shore. Maryland granted Washington College its charter in 1782...

 and Salisbury University

Salisbury University

Salisbury University is a public university in Salisbury, Maryland.According to U.S. News and World Report's 2009 America's Best Colleges index, "In guidebooks and surveys by U.S...

. These two schools are located on Maryland's eastern shore and are just 82 miles apart. This game is nicknamed "The War on the Shore" because they are the only two major colleges on the eastern shore of Maryland and the close proximity creates a natural rivalry between the schools. This Division III game is played every spring and is considered one of the most anticipated games of the year in lacrosse

Lacrosse

Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...

. In addition to the bitter rivalry, these teams battle each other in order to claim the Charles B. Clark Cup.

History

Including the 2010 season, the War on the Shore has been played 43 times with Salisbury leading the overall series 24-19. Since the 2000, the Sea Gulls of Salisbury have won 10 straight games over the Shoremen of Washington. Washington's last win over Salisbury came in 2000 when they won 15-10, but since then the series has been dominated by the Sea Gulls. In the most recent edition of the series, in 2010 Salisbury won 12-7 in front of their home crowd. The winner of this annual game is awarded the Charles B. Clark Cup which has been in existence since the 2004 season. Each game is played either at Roy Kirby Stadium on the campus of Washington College or Sea Gull Stadium on the campus of Salisbury university. The game between these two historic teams draws several thousand fans each year earning this game the title "The Biggest Little Lacrosse Game in America."

Charles B. Clark Cup

The Charles B. Clark Cup is awarded annually to the winner of the War on the Shore in the memory of coach Charles B. Clark. A member of the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame, Clark played a major role in the athletics at both institutions over his career. Clark was a student-athlete at Washington College before eventually becoming the head lacrosse coach at Washington for several years. From there he moved onto Salisbury University where he was the head lacrosse coach and educator at the university. Charles B. Clark led both programs to national prominence in his time at each school as well as instilling the values of sportsmanship, teamwork, and competitive spirit.

Washington College Shoremen

The Washington College men's lacrosse program began in 1929. After 5 seasons the program was dropped only to be reintroduced in 1948 under coach Charles Clark. In their first season in the USILA the Shoremen finished 10-3. This excellent first showing for the lacrosse program started a tradition of excellence at the school. The Shoremen have made it to the National Championship 10 times in their history winning it twice in 1954 and 1998. The Shoremen have had great individual success as well as team success. The shoremen have had over 200 all Americans in their history as well as countless all centennial conference selections. Most notably, Stephen Berger a member of the Shoremen from 2001-2004 is a 3 time all American and now member of Major League Lacrosse.

Salisbury Sea Gulls

The Salisbury University lacrosse program began in 1974 and saw immediate success on the lacrosse field. In just their second season the Sea Gulls went 12-3 under head coach Andy Jones. Salisbury has only seen one losing season in their 37 year history. In the program's history they have won an astounding 8 national championships including 5 in the past 10 years dating back to 2000. The Sea Gull's team and individual accolades speak for themselves. They have had 179 All-Americans since 1974. They have had 8 National Players of the year in their program and 10 Major League Lacrosse draft picks. As a team they have made 32 consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, 5 of which were perfect undefeated seasons.

Broadcast

The War on the Shore is broadcast on SFMSports.Net. The game is heard world-wide on their streaming channel SFMSports Channel 4 as well as streamed to mobile phones via their mobile streaming application, through Tune In Radio. The game is heard in Salisbury-Ocean City on SFMSports's radio affiliate, WQMR-FM (Q101.1).