Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 5/2718
From Press Release and Staff Report
Sophomore Courtney Patterson scored three goals and junior goalie Bailey Pilder recorded 11 saves to vault No. 3 Gettysburg College past No. 2 Salisbury University, 12-7, Saturday and into today’s NCAA Division III Championship game for the second consecutive season.
Gettysburg (20-2) clinched a spot in the national finals for the fourth time in program history. The defending champion Bullets will seek their third NCAA championship against No. 4 Middlebury College (20-2), which defeated top-ranked College of New Jersey (20-3), 13-9, in Saturday’s second semifinal. Today’s national title game is set for 2 p.m. at Kerr Stadium on the campus of Roanoke College.
The Orange and Blue knocked off Salisbury (21-2) for the second consecutive year on its way through the NCAA playoffs. The Bullets also defeated the Sea Gulls during its run to the national title in 2011.
“Today’s game was electric,” said Head Coach Carol Cantele, a Nether Providence (now Strath Haven) alum. “I think it was two solid teams playing great lacrosse. We took advantage of every set, both offensively and defensively. We made some incredible defensive stops. Offensively the players rose to the occasion and made their minutes matter and really thrived at the right time.”
Patterson led a well-balanced offensive attack that saw eight different players reach the scoreboard for Gettysburg. Senior Katie Willis tallied two goals and two assists, while junior Lauren Cole tossed in a pair of goals and senior Katie Landry posted a goal and two assists.
The Bullets won 14-of-20 draw controls with junior Steph Colson leading the charge. Colson procured nine draw controls to go with a goal, assist, and three ground balls. The junior midfielder broke the Centennial Conference record for draw controls in a season and now has 131.
Sophomore Liza Barr (Shawnee-NJ) scored once – her 41st of the year.
Gettysburg also features the following Philly grads:
Elsie Wagner, a senior defender from Conestoga who has 19 groundballs and 11 caused turnovers as a starter or key reserve;
Maddy Ruffini, a freshman attack from Strath Haven who has 5 goals this year;
Laura Winters, a freshman attack from Haverford High who has 2 goals this year
Gabby Dunning, a freshman reserve defender from Springside Chestnut Hill Academy.
