SALISBURY, Md. - For the third straight year
the Salisbury University women's lacrosse team has advanced to the
NCAA Division III national semifinals as the top-ranked Sea Gulls
won their regional with an 18-14 victory over No. 11 Catholic
University of America on a picturesque Sunday afternoon at Sea Gull
Stadium.
The Sea Gulls (19-1) will face No. 7 Gettysburg College (16-3)
in the first of two national semifinals on Saturday, May 16, at 5
p.m. in Salem, Va. Defending national champion and fifth-ranked
Hamilton College (16-2) will square-off against No. 2 Franklin
& Marshall College (19-1) in the eight o'clock evening
semifinal.
Salisbury is 2-2 all-time against Gettysburg with a 1-0 record
against the Bullets in NCAA tournament play. The Gulls last met the
Bullets in the regional final on May 9, 2004 where SU won 8-5 and
advanced to the program's second national semifinal. This will be
the sixth national semifinal appearance for the Sea Gulls since
2000 and the fifth in the past six seasons.
SU was led by senior midfielder Robyn Bishop as
she matched her career-high with six goals scored. Salisbury, the
fourth-ranked scoring offense in Division III, met its scoring
average as the Gulls scored 18 goals against the Top 20 scoring
defense.
"I was really pumped up today," said Bishop. "This is our year.
We are sick of being the team watching somebody else get the
[national championship] trophy."
SU's attack unit netted 13 points today as the group of junior
Beth Rhodey (two goals, two assists), and
sophomores Trish DiGirolomo (one goal),
Meagan Osipowich (three goals, one assist) and
Logan Bilderback (two goals, two assists) has
scored 25 points in two days.
Senior midfielder Ashleigh Gender scored two
goals and dished out one assist while senior Courtney
Sorenson and Amanda Holsclaw each scored
one goal in the victory.
The Salisbury defense was given a tough test in the regional
final as they were asked to stop the nation's 11th best point
producer in Cardinal midfielder Kate Robinson (seven goals, two
assists). Robinson and the Cardinals (17-4) struck first with a
free position just a minute and a half into the game. Robinson kept
her team in the game in the second half as she scored four of her
game-high seven goals. In the two games this weekend Robinson
scored 15 goals and three assists.
"We needed to focus on Robinson. She can take over a game," said
SU coach Jim Nestor. "We knew we had to do our job
defensively."
SU reeled off three straight goals to answer Robinson's first
mark of the day. CUA closed the lead to one, 3-2, 10 minutes into
the game before SU added some distance with an 8-3 run to close out
the first half. The Sea Gulls took an 11-5 advantage into the half.
The teams traded goals four times to begin the second half
before the Cardinals netted three straight to pull to within three,
14-11, at the 16:53 mark and forced Nestor to call a timeout.
"The timeout helped us," said SU senior defender and co-captain
Holly Johnson.
Out of the timeout, SU won the draw control (15-of-24) and went
straight to the Cardinal cage. Rhodey scored her 50th goal of the
season as she shot it past CUA goalie Melissa Brashear (eight
saves) to end the Cardinal run 19 seconds out of the timeout.
Rhodey's goal was the eventual game-winner.
Catholic wasn't done as the Cardinals scored back-to-back goals
to decrease the SU lead to 15-13 with 11 minutes to play. Salisbury
scored three of the final four goals to close out the second half
and win the regional.
The Cardinals were led offensively by Robinson, Laura Haring
(two goals, two assists) and Mary Swarthout (two goals, one
assist).
SU outshot the Cardinals 36-27, scooped up 22 ground balls to
Catholic's 15 and converted 18-of-24 clear opportunities.
The Sea Gulls handled Catholic's defensive pressure as the
Cardinals entered the game as the best team in the nation at
causing turnovers (19.78 per game). The Cardinals only caused nine
of Salisbury's 14 turnovers. On the other side of the field
Salisbury's defense caused 17 of Catholic's 20 turnovers. The
Salisbury defense is made up of seniors Sarah
Maggio (one caused turnover), Sarah
McKinley (five caused turnovers, two ground balls) and
Johnson (two caused turnovers, two ground balls) along with junior
Jess Glazer (three caused turnovers, six ground
balls). SU senior goalie Sonja
Stuart made nine saves, caused one turnover and scooped up
three ground balls in the victory.
The next stop for Salisbury is Salem, Va., the location of last
year's national championship and where SU lost 11-10 to Hamilton in
the semifinals. The Sea Gulls hope for a different result this
season.
"We have a very strong senior class and team. Everybody can
contribute," said Bishop.
Johnson echoed Bishop's remarks about the seniors; "this is our
last year and we need to get it done."
2009 NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse
Championship
Salisbury Regional
Sunday, May 10
#1 Salisbury 18, #11 Catholic 14 | Box Score
Saturday, May 9
#1 Salisbury 18, #10 Babson 7 | Box Score
#11 Catholic 19, Mary Washington 14 | Box Score
