EWING, N.J. - It was a fitting
end to Saturday's No. 1 vs. No. 2 women's lacrosse showdown between
Salisbury University and The College of New Jersey as a free
position goal determined the outcome for the third year in a row.
Senior All-American Sue Ackermann scored the
eventual game-winner with 3:11 left in the six-minute overtime
period as top-ranked Salisbury (16-0) hung on to win 11-10 over
TCNJ (9-1).
The victory is the first-ever for the Sea Gulls in 12 chances in
Lions' Stadium since 1988. This is only the third time Salisbury
has beaten TCNJ in the 20-year history between the two schools
where the Lions hold a 22-3 advantage. The loss snaps TCNJ's
17-game home winning streak. This is the second consecutive year
the Sea Gulls have beaten the Lions by a goal and the third time in
six meetings. Salisbury extends its Division III best winning
streak to 16 as the Sea Gulls have won 21 consecutive
regular-season games since 2007.
Ackermann scored a game-high seven goals on her birthday to give
her 59 goals and 107 points this season. The game featured several
of the top players in Division III women's lacrosse in Ackermann
and TCNJ's three-time All-American Karen Doane. The Salisbury
defense anchored by senior Kelly Phillips, the
2007 Division III National Defender of the Year, and sophomores
Jess Glazer and Maddie Goetz,
kept Doane in check as she only scored two goals.
Doane (39 goals, eight assists) was recently named to the 2008
Tewaaraton Trophy watch list over Ackermann (59 goals, 48 assists).
The Tewaaraton Trophy is awarded each year to the best collegiate
men's and women's lacrosse player. There are only three Division
III players out of 48 women selected to the watch list, dominated
by Division I picks. The two other Division III selections are Jen
Pritchard (39 goals, three assists) from Franklin & Marshall
and Katie Ceglarski (40 goals, 38 assists) from Gettysburg.
This the second No. 1 vs. No. 2 game for SU in three weeks but
the first for the Sea Gulls as the top-ranked team. SU secured the
No. 1 ranking after second-ranked SU dethroned defending national
champion and previous No. 1 Franklin & Marshall 9-7 at Sea Gull
Stadium on March 29.
The SU-TCNJ game lived up to the top game billing as it provided
intense action for the entire 66 minutes played. Draw controls were
a huge factor in the game as the team who typically won the draw
was able to capitalize on the transition and score a quick goal.
The Lions got on the board first, six minutes into the first
half, on a goal by senior Toni-Anne Cavallo (two goals). SU
answered with two back-to-back goals by Ackermann in just over a
minute to take a 2-1 lead. Doane would knot the game at two on an
unassisted goal at the 20:34 mark.
Salisbury scored three of the next four goals, two by Ackermann
and one by sophomore Kim Cudmore (one goal, one
assist) to take a 5-3 lead with 12 minutes to play in the first
half. The Lions charged back with two goals in 52 seconds to tie
the game at 5-5. The two teams traded goals, in the final five
minutes, including a goal from SU senior Jessica
Liston to head into the intermission all squared at six.
The second half mirrored the first half in many aspects as the
Lions scored 43 seconds into the second half to give TCNJ the 7-6
advantage. Doane tacked on her second goal three minutes later to
give the Lions their largest lead of the second half.
Ackermann scored the next two goals for the Sea Gulls to tie the
game once more. The Lions took their final lead of the game on
Cavallo's second goal past SU starting goalie Sonja
Stuart (11 saves) with 14 minutes left.
TCNJ's final lead was short lived as junior Ashleigh
Gender (two goals) scored both of her goals in
back-to-back fashion, in less then 41 seconds, to give SU the 10-9
edge with 10 minutes to play.
Freshman Leigh Mitchell (two goals) kept TCNJ's hopes alive as
she scored the game-tying goal with just 2:05 left in regulation.
In overtime, Ackermann scored her second free position goal past
TCNJ goalie Caitlin Gregory (eight saves). The Lions had a chance
to tie the game in the waning seconds of the overtime period but
the SU defense caused one of their six TCNJ turnovers to seal the
win.
The game featured seven lead changes and eight ties.
Many of the statistical categories were very close for each team
as SU held a slight advantage in shots (30-28), ground balls
(13-12) and clears (13-for-16). TCNJ won 13-of-24 draw controls,
made 9-of-13 clears and only had 10 turnovers compared to
Salisbury's 14. The two teams combined for 43 fouls.
Besides draw controls the other crucial statistical category
that made a difference in the game was free position opportunities.
Salisbury converted 2-of-3 chances while TCNJ received nine
opportunities and scored on four of them, three in the first half.
Last year, Salisbury defeated TCNJ 13-12 at home on a free
position goal by Natalie Degele with 42 seconds left in regulation.
In 2006, TCNJ won 6-5 on a second half free position goal in the
NCAA Regional final at Salisbury, Md.
The maroon and gold will close out their regular season schedule
with a road contest with Capital Athletic Conference rival
University of Mary Washington on Thursday, April 17, at 4:30 p.m. A
win over the 16th-ranked Eagles would secure the top-seed for
Salisbury in the upcoming CAC tournament which is set to begin on
Sunday, April 20.
