Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 5/14/16
From Press Release
For the third consecutive season, the University of Pennsylvania women’s lacrosse team will play in the second round of the NCAA championship after a 17-7 win over Wagner at Towson’s Johnny Unitas Stadium on Friday.
No. 7 Penn led practically the entire way, as Wagner only tied the game on two occasions as the Quakers used a plethora of mini-runs to pull away.
The Red and Blue were the definition of efficiency in the first half, scoring eight goals on 10 shots while the Seahawks managed just three goals on 11 shots. For the game, Penn scored its 17 goals on 23 shots on goal – a shooting percentage of .739.
It was another record-setting day for senior Nina Corcoran. She scored Penn’s second goal on Friday, to become Penn’s single-season points leader, eclipsing the previous record of 76 set by Ali DeLuca in 2010. (She finished the day with seven points in the game, giving her 82 for 2016.) Late in the game, Corcoran dished off her fourth assist of the day, giving her 125 for her career which broke a 33-year-old Ivy League standard previously held by Harvard’s Maureen Finn.
“Nina is no question one of the best players I have ever coached,” said head coach Karin Corbett. “She is so unselfish and reads her defender so well. I do believe she is one the main reasons we are here.”
Condon has now scored 41 goals this season, moving into No. 6 all-time by a Quaker. Iris Williamson (Germantown Friends) is now sitting on 99 career goals – one away from becoming the ninth Quaker to reach the 100-goal mark for her career.
Emilia Lopez-Ona had a career-high seven draw controls, helping Penn to an 18-8 edge on the draw circle. The seven draws by ELO are tied with Alison Ambrozy (vs. Duke, 5/23/08) for most in a NCAA Tournament game by a Penn player.
The Quakers picked a great time to have their most dominant game in recent memory. The Red and Blue set 2016 highs in goals (17), assists (10), points (27), free position goals (3), and draw controls (18).
Penn State 16, Winthrop 6
The 11th-ranked Nittany Lion women’s lacrosse team used a 7-0 second-half run to pull away from Winthrop. Steph Lazo tallied a seven-point night to lead four Penn State hat tricks.
The Nittany Lions advance to the NCAA Second Round will attempt to reach their fourth NCAA Quarterfinals in five years when they face host, No. 2 seed Florida (18-1), on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Penn State (12-6) used stellar defense, shutting out Winthrop (20-3) for the final 24 minutes of the game, while simultaneously stretching a three-goal lead into an insurmountable 10-goal cushion. That 7-0 run came after a 75-minute weather delay and a major Winthrop injury in the final 22 minutes of the contest.
Lazo led the way with a four-goal, three-assist outing to match her single-season career-high of seven points. Lazo was involved in four straight goals as Penn State pulled away from the Eagles, who allowed their most goals of the season (16) and matched their fewest of the year (6). Lazo now has 65 points for the year.
Madison Cyr pitched in with a five-point night, scoring three times and adding two assists. Cyr also had two ground balls and a pair of caused turnovers. Cyr’s 51 goals are the most by a Nittany Lion in a single-season since the late Diane Whipple rallied 62 during the 1990 campaign.
Madison Carter added four goals and Katie O’Donnell (Henderson) notched a hat trick to aid the Penn State attack. Goalie Emi Smith had seven saves, five of which came in the second half, to stifle the high-flying Eagle offense that had averaged over 13 goals per game coming into the contest.
UMass 13, Princeton 12, OT
Junior Olivia Hompe scored with 0.8 seconds left to force overtime for Princeton in the first round of the NCAA women’s lacrosse tournament. It would be the first sudden-victory overtime game in NCAA Tournament history.
Both teams had opportunities to score in the extra session but it was Eileen McDonald that laced the winner at 2:23 in Ithaca, NY. The Minutewomen won the opening draw in overtime and Ellie DeGarmo made a save before Liz Bannantine was able to force a turnover and give Princeton a chance. Hompe had a great look but Aileen Kelly made the stop. Ellie McNulty forced another turnover and this time it was Finkelston with an attempt to score and again Kelly made the stop. After switching ends, Umass won the draw and McDonald tallied the unassisted marker to advance her team, 13-12.
There were nine lead changes and eight ties in the first meeting between these two teams.
Even more remarkable was that there were 11 different goal scorers for Princeton.
“It was a great game, it was incredibly hard fought by both teams,” Princeton head coach Chris Sailer said. “You have to give credit to UMass, they won the draws in overtime. We got the look we wanted, we got a stop. But you have to be able win draws in overtime. I’m really proud of our kids. They really competed hard, and played well and it was just a great game. It’s tough to lose, but it was a great game.”
It took Princeton just 24 seconds to get on the scoreboard, on an Anya Gersoff goal, but the lead wouldn’t last as UMass rattled off four straight to take a 4-1 lead at eight minutes into the game.
Princeton called a timeout to regroup and closed out the half on a 5-1 run to enabled them to take a 6-5 lead. Hompe started things off and was followed by Elizabeth George.
Holly Turner briefly interrupted the run at 15:22, before Amanda Leavell inched her team within one. Freshman Nonie Anderson notched her first career goal, coming in to replace Madeline Rodriuez after an injury, and senior Anna Menke put away a Colby Chanenchuk to regain the lead for the Tigers 6-5.
Menke delivered a feed to senior Stephanie Paloscio for the first goal of the second.
UMass went on a 5-2 run over the next 16 minutes to take a 10-9 lead.
Lauren Steidl’s free-position goal at 10:59 tied it at 10-10 and Chanenchuk gave Princeton what would be its final lead on a pass from Hompe at 9:11.
Callie Santos scored with 2:55 remaining to tie it 11-11 before a series of stick checks. With 17.6 seconds left Hannah Murphy was given a free-position attempt but she elected to pass off to an open Santos directly to the right side of DeGarmo for the goal with 14.6 seconds left.
Leavell won the next draw and with 8.3 seconds left Princeton called a timeout to draw something up. It played out beautifully as Leavell outletted the ball to Anderson on the left sideline and she tossed into the fan were Hompe reached to catch it and buried it with less than a second left.
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