Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 5/10/09
The No. 4 Penn women’s lacrosse team scored five goals in each half to topple Fairfield, 10-8, today and advance to the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament at Drexel’s Vidas Field.
Duke, which defeated Virginia, 15-13, in overtime, will travel to Philadelphia, on Saturday, May 16 to face Penn, again at Vidas Field.
The Quakers got on the board early with a goal from Ali DeLuca three minutes into the contest. The junior had a solid game for Penn with two goals, two assists, four caused turnovers and three ground balls.
Though Penn drew first blood, Fairfield struck back with two quick goals to hold a 2-1 lead. With just less than 15 minutes to play, senior Becca Edwards (Springfield-Montco) scored to tie it up. Nearing the six-minute mark, junior Emma Spiro converted on an eight-meter opportunity and reclaimed the lead for Penn.
Ivy League Rookie of the Year Erin Brennan and DeLuca closed out the scoring in the half, giving the Quakers a 5-2 advantage at the half.
After the break, Edwards stung the Stags with her second goal just two minutes into the half. Fairfield cut its deficit back to within two with 17:47 left to play.
The Quakers outscored the Stags 4-2 over the next 15 minutes and held a 10-6 lead with six minutes to go, but Fairfield would not go quietly. In the final six minutes, the Stags aggressively sought the goal and were rewarded with two free position goals.
However, it was the Quakers’ Emily Szelest’s crucial save on another attempt that gave Penn possession and the mental momentum to hold off the Stags in the final 1:30. The junior made six saves in the game. Her Fairfield counterpart Lauren Chatnik made 11, including eight in the second half, in the game.
Junior Kelly Barnes (Jenkintown) had a team-high three groundballs as well as two draw controls for the Stags (17-3).
Duke 15, Virginia 13, OT
Emma Hamm (Baldwin) had two goals, an assist and seven draw controls and defender Sara Giedgowd (Conestoga) had two caused turnovers to help the Blue Devils (15-5) advance.
Syracuse 20, Boston Univ. 10
Megan Mosenson (Great Valley) had a goal and an assist for the Orange (14-4) while Alyssa Kovach (Strath Haven) scored once for BU (15-4).
Princeton 15, Georgetown 9
Marie McKenna (Penn Charter) had a goal, three groundballs and two caused turnovers as the Tigers toppled the Hoyas. Freshman Kelly Barnes (Radnor) and Megan Bloomer (Conestoga) scored for Georgetown.
Maryland 20, Colgate 4
Jenny Collins (North Penn) scored three goals as the Terrapins coasted. Molly Carroll (Strath Haven) had a goal and three groundballs for Colgate in a losing cause.
Notre Dame 19, Vanderbilt 13
Maggie Tamasitis (Boyertown) scored once for the Irish (16-4) in their first-round win.
Division III
Franklin & Marshall 12, Tufts 7
Jen Pritchard (Penncrest) broke three records with a five goal performance to spearhead the Diplomats (19-1) in their second-round win.
Pritchard scored five goals, reestablishing the NCAA postseason mark for career goals in the postseason at 48. The record had stood at 46. She also reset the Centennial Conference career mark for goals scored moving to 262 on her career. Swarthmore graduate, Katie Tarr, had held the record at 260. Pritchard’s final point of the day moved her to 313 on her career, besting the 312 posted by Lauren Petrella ’94.
The victory sets up a semifinal rematch of the 2008 National Championship. The Diplomats will face Hamilton, 13-9 winners over Middlebury, on Kerr Field at Roanoke, site of the Continentals 13-6 NCAA Championship game win over F&M a year ago.
Tufts opened the game with a 3-2 lead before Pritchard went to work. She accounted for half of an F&M four goal run that put the Diplomats ahead for good. Her fourth goal, early in the second half, broke the two records and held up as the 24th game winning goal of her career. 2:02 later on a free position shot, Pritchard broke Petrella’s mark.
Meredith Lussier (Radnor) a hat trick and an assist in the in the win. Lussier is now a single goal away from becoming the sixth active Diplomat with 100 goals in her career. Shannon Summers (Hill School) tallied three points to become the third Diplomat to reach 300 in a career. Her milestone was reached after collecting a Hargest feed from behind the cage. Summers made a pair of nifty moves to find the open shot. She joins Pritchard and Petrella in the 300-point club. Sarah Meisenberg became the fifth F&M player to reach 100 assists in her career with her lone helper in the game.
Men
In their first NCAA Tournament appearance in program history, the Wildcats were dominated by top-seeded and host Virginia in a first-round contest at Klockner Stadium.
Virginia (14-2) scored the first 18 goals in the game until Colonial Athletic Association champion Villanova (11-6) scored the game’s final six tallies. Two Philly grads, John Haldy (Haverford School) and Ken Clausen (Hill School) played key roles for the Cavs. Haldy scored three goals and Clausen had five groundballs on defense.
Senior Tim Driscoll recorded two goals in the fourth quarter to ignite the Villanova offense and put the team on the board.
Sophomore Brian Karaluans, the 2009 CAA Defensive Player of the Year, led the Wildcats with four caused turnovers in the game while picking up five ground balls. Karalunas finishes the season leading Villanova with 25 caused turnovers and 68 ground balls.
Maryland 7, Notre Dame 3
Sophomore defender Brett Schmidt (Upper Dublin) had four groundballs to help the Terrapins (10-6) topple the No. 2 and previously-undefeated Fighting Irish (15-1).
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