Northwestern, Vanderbilt to Meet for ALC Title
from press releases
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Senior Katrina Dowd (Yorktown
Heights, N.Y./Yorktown) proved why she was tabbed the American
Lacrosse Conference's Player of the Year, tallying six goals and
three assists as second-ranked Northwestern topped 17th-ranked Penn
State 15-9 in the ALC semifinals at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
The Wildcats advance to Saturday's championship game to face either
Vanderbilt at 2 p.m.
The nine points for Dowd is a career-best and ties senior Danielle
Spencer (Rochester, N.Y./Brighton) for the team's single-game high
this season as Northwestern (16-1) improves to 7-0 all-time in the
four-year history of the ALC Championship. Dowd also finished with
a game-high five draws as head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller won her
150th game on the Wildcat sideline.
Senior Maggie Bremer (Upper Arlington, Ohio/Upper Arlington) had a
homecoming to remember, finishing with a career-best four points
off a two goals and two assists. Seven other Wildcats notched a
goal on the day with junior Brooke Matthews (Baltimore, Md./Friends
School) recording a goal and an assist.
Penn State (10-7) would strike first with just over three minutes
gone, but freshman Ali Cassera (Fairfield, N.J./West Essex) would
even things up at one at the 21:55 mark, followed by the go-ahead
goal from freshman Erin Fitzgerald (Mt. Sinai, N.Y./Mt. Sinai) two
and a half minutes later off a feed from Matthews.
After the Nittany Lions tied the game at two, Dowd and Matthews
would rattle off a pair of goals just 14 seconds apart to push
Northwestern's advantage back to two at 4-2. But as was the case in
University Park earlier this season, Penn State wasn't going down
with out a fight, netting back-to-back goals of its own and
knotting the contest at four midway through the opening half.
Dowd then showed why her nickname is "Miss May," netting three
goals during a four-goal Wildcat run to pounce out to an 8-4 lead.
Freshman Amanda Macaluso (Smithtown, N.Y./Hauppauge) also converted
a free position attempt during the run, helping Northwestern build
an 8-5 halftime advantage.
With the wind at their backs in the second half, the Wildcats took
advantage early as sophomore Shannon Smith (West Babylon, N.Y./West
Babylon) found the back of the net to push Northwestern's lead back
to four at 9-5. Spencer then got on the board, extending the lead
to 10-5 with just over five minutes burned off the clock.
Penn State would mount one final rally, pulling to within four at
10-6, but Dowd would ensure the 'Cats would live to play another
day. She netted two quick goals, including a behind-the-back shot,
and would also dish out an assist to Bremer as Northwestern
extended its lead to 13-6 with 18 minutes to go.
Dowd would add one more assist as Bremer notched her second goal
of the game midway through the closing half, with sophomore Jessica
Russo (Port Jefferson, N.Y./St. Anthony's) rounding out the scoring
for the Wildcats at the 13:14 mark. All in all, 10 different 'Cats
would record at least one point as sophomore Alexandra Frank
(Westwood, Mass./Westwood) dished out a pair of assists as
well.
Northwestern held comfortable advantages in shots (35-19), ground
balls (18-12) and draw controls (19-7) while forcing 15 Penn State
turnovers. Spencer added four draws on the afternoon for the
Wildcats while junior Colleen Magarity (Oreland, Pa./Germantown
Academy), a second team All-ALC selection, led the 'Cats with three
ground balls and a pair of caused turnovers. Sophomore goalkeeper
Brianne LoManto (Miller Place, N.Y./Rocky Point) added six saves
between the pipes.
The victory over the Nittany Lions marks the 35th-straight
conference win for the Wildcats, which includes the past four ALC
Championships. Northwestern improves to 12-4 all-time against Penn
State and has now knocked their Big Ten rivals out of the
tournament in each of the past four seasons.
Both Northwestern and Penn State did what they could to pay their
respects to the tragic event that transpired at Virginia as the
Wildcats wore orange wristbands while the Nittany Lions sported
orange ribbons.
*****
COLUMBUS, Ohio—The University of Florida
lacrosse team ended their season on Friday with a 16-9 loss to No.
10 Vanderbilt in the American Lacrosse Conference Tournament
semifinals at Jesse Owens Memorial in Columbus, Ohio. The Gators
finished their inaugural season with a 10-8 record, including three
wins over ranked opponents.
The turning point of the game came in the first 10 minutes of the
second half, when Vanderbilt (12-4) built a 10-goal lead and
squashed any hopes of a second upset for the Gators in the
tournament.
Ashley Bruns (Ellicott City, Md.) got the Gators on the board just
33 seconds into the game, but Vanderbilt scored five unanswered
goals over the next 20 minutes to take a 5-1 lead. The
Commodore’s Sarah Downing had two goals and an assist in the
scoring run that was capped by a goal from Katherine Denkler at the
9:58 mark of the first half.
After forcing a turnover in the midfield, Haydon Judge
(Chestertown, Md.) raced toward the goal and dished a pass to
Janine Hillier (Farmingdale, N.Y.), who fired a shot past VU goalie
Natalie Wills to cut the lead back to three goals with 5:52
remaining before halftime. Hannah Clark added one more goal and
Vanderbilt took a 6-2 lead into the locker room at the break.
Allie Frank extended the Commodore lead just 11 seconds into the
second half, but Caroline Chesterman (South Nyack, N.Y.) was able
to answer with a free position goal at the 26:42 mark. The Gators
would never get closer than four goals for the remainder of the
game, as Vanderbilt used a 6-0 scoring run in the first 10 minutes
after the break to pull away and end Florida’s hopes of a
second upset in two days.
Brittany Dashiell (Bel Air, Md.) ended the scoring run after
finishing a pass from Chesterman with 16:28 to play, then
Chesterman added another free position goal to pull within 13-5
just over midway through the final half. Over the final 17 minutes
the Gators outscored Vandy 6-3, but it wouldn’t be enough in
the end.
Chesterman led the Gators with five points on three goals and two
assists, while Cullen finished with three goals on the day. Bruns,
Dashiell and Hillier each added one goal. Dashiell tied a
season-high with six draw controls.
Six players had two goals apiece for Vanderbilt, and Ally Carey
had seven draw controls in the game. Goalie Natalie Wills made 11
saves in the game. The Commodores advance to the ALC Championship
at 2 p.m. on Saturday to face No. 2 Northwestern, 15-9 winners over
Penn State.
