May 16, 2009

No. 2 Terps drop No. 7 Syracuse, 12-10, to advance to NCAA semifinals

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - It's been five seemingly long seasons since the esteemed Maryland women's lacrosse program has advanced to the final four, but the wait finally ended Saturday as the Terps topped No. 7 Syracuse, 12-10, in NCAA quarterfinal action at the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex.

Maryland (21-0) went down early after Syracuse came out on-fire to begin the match. The Orange, which fell in the semifinals to eventual national champion Northwestern last season, picked up four goals in a matter of three minutes. Tewaaraton finalist Katie Rowan assisted on the first score and added a pair of goals in the Syracuse run. The Terps continued to pepper shots at the Orange defense, but goalie Liz Hogan made eight first-half saves to keep the Maryland offense at a minimum. Sarah Mollison put the Terps on the board with a goal at 20:40 and jumpstarted a 4-0 Maryland drive. The attacker from Melbourne, Australia tallied two more goals in the run to even the score with 11 minutes remaining in the period.

Rowan gave the lead back to Syracuse with an unassisted score at 7:31 but Maryland quickly answered with goals from Brittany Jones and Karri Ellen Johnson for a 6-5 Terrapin lead. Following another Orange goal, Maryland freshman Kristy Black tallied a caused turnover, a ground ball and a goal in the final seconds to spark a momentum shift in favor of the Terps heading into halftime.

Strong Second Half Sends Tar Heels Past Notre Dame, 16-10

CHAPEL HILL - North Carolina outscored Notre Dame by a 8-4 margin in the second half and tied its season high with 16 goals overall as the third-seeded Tar Heels pulled away and defeated the sixth-seeded Fighting Irish, 16-10, on Saturday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the 2009 NCAA Division I women's lacrosse tournament at Fetzer Field.

UNC advances to next Friday night's NCAA semifinals in Towson, Md., and will face second-seeded Maryland, which beat seventh-seeded Syracuse, 12-10, on Saturday afternoon. The Tar Heels will be making their fourth appearance in the national semis, having also done so in 1997, 1998 and 2002. UNC was making its fifth consecutive appearance in the NCAA quarterfinals and advanced to its first Final Four in seven seasons.

In Saturday's game, Carolina got three goals apiece from Jenn Russell, Megan Bosica and Corey Donohoe, with Russell adding an assist as well. Kristen Taylor had a goal and three second-half assists. Kristen Carr and Chelsea Parks both scored twice for UNC, while Laura Zimmerman and Katie Brooks scored single goals.

Duke Falls In Quarterfinals Despite Second-Half Comeback

PHILADELPHIA – Despite scoring the first seven goals of the second half to erase a five-goal halftime deficit, the fifth-seeded Duke women’s lacrosse team dropped its NCAA Championships quarterfinal match-up to No. 4 Penn in overtime, 10-9, Saturday afternoon at Drexel University’s Vidas Field in Philadelphia. The loss knocked the Blue Devils out of the tournament and leaves their season record at 15-6, while the Quakers improve to 15-2 on the year.

This marks the second year in a row that Penn has eliminated Duke in overtime, following last season’s 9-8 overtime contest in the semifinals.

Duke was led on the offensive end by junior Lindsay Gilbride with four goals, while Danielle Kachulis added a pair and Caroline Cryer, Sarah Bullard, and Jess Adam each scored one for the Blue Devils. Cryer turned in a game-high four assists to finish with five points, while Gilbride and Emma Hamm each added one helper.