Care to Dance? Bullets, Dips Tangle Again
from press release
GETTYSBURG, Pa. – It's the same old song and dance
in the finals of the Centennial Conference Women's Lacrosse
Tournament as Gettysburg College and Franklin & Marshall
College will meet for the eighth consecutive season after each team
eased past their respective semifinal opponents on Saturday at
Clark Field.
Top seed and host Gettysburg (16-2) handled fourth seed Haverford
College (13-5) 16-6 as seniors Jessica Crane (Sudbury,
Mass./Sudbury-Lincoln) and Nina Emala (Baltimore, Md./Bryn Mawr
School) each put up four points. No. 2 seed Franklin & Marshall
(13-3) recorded the first shutout in the 10-year history of the CC
Tournament with a 15-0 decision over third seed Ursinus (11-6) with
goalie Lidia Sanza making four saves and Meredith Lussier
accumulating six points.
On a hot and sunny day at Clark Field, Gettysburg, ranked fifth in
the latest Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association
national poll, took care of business against playoff newcomer
Haverford. After trading opening goals, the Bullets went on a 6-0
run with Crane's second goal of the game off a feed from senior
Lexie Hearn (Old Greenwich, Conn./Greenwich) putting the score at
7-1 with 11:59 left in the first half.
Gettysburg capped the period with the final three scores, including
back-to-back free-position goals by senior Hollis Stahl
(Hightstown, N.J./Peddie School) and sophomore Hannah Church
(Ellicott City, Md./Mount de Sales), and took a 10-2 lead into the
break.
After posting just four draw controls and three shots in the
opening half, Haverford built some momentum to start the final
period by winning three of four draws and scoring the first three
goals to cut the deficit to 10-5 at 24:41.
Junior Marnie Commins (Fairfax Station, Va./Robinson) scored for
Gettysburg at 19:51 to halt the Ford run temporarily, but Alexa
Pesce dished out her third assist of the game to Mary Alice Postel
less than a minute later to slice the lead to 11-6.
The Bullets took over the remainder of the game, winning four of
the next five draw controls and forcing turnovers on each of
Haverford's next five possessions. Crane tossed in a free position
goal at 17:23 to kick off a 5-0 run by the Bullets to end the game.
Senior Lauren Woodman (Denver, Colorado, Kent Denver) dished out a
pair of assists on the final two goals, including a one-timer by
Emala at 10:35.
Gettysburg finished with the edge in shots (30-12), ground balls
(15-10), and draw controls (14-10).
Crane finished with three goals, one assist, two ground balls, two
draw controls, and three caused turnovers. Emala posted two goals
and two helpers and joined Stahl on Gettysburg's top-10 scoring
list, finishing the day with 183 career points. Stahl tallied two
goals and three caused turnovers and led all players with five draw
controls.
On the defensive side of the ball for Gettysburg, senior Nicole
Ditillo (Baldwin, Md./Fallston) and junior Becky Lutz (Madison,
Conn./Daniel Hand) each posted three ground balls. Senior goalie
Kristen Krammer (Woodbine, Md./Glenelg) made two saves in the
win.
Josie Ferri and Jen Schmidt each scored twice and goalie Leah
Hammerschlag made five saves for Haverford.
Saturday's second semifinal was all Franklin & Marshall, ranked
seventh in the nation. Lussier needed only two goals to reach 150
for her career and she made short work of reaching that by driving
to the goal twice in the first 10 minutes for easy scores. She
wasn't the only Diplomat rising up the ranks as Blake Hargest
posted two goals in the first half, the second breaking the
Centennial Conference record for points in a career held by
Swarthmore College's Katie Tarr (324).
After ending the first half with a 9-0 lead, F&M tossed in six
more goals in the second half, including the first of the season by
Meghan Cohen off a nice feed from Lussier at 6:09.
Ursinus had no answer for the Diplomat defense, managing just eight
shots with the four on goal stopped cold by Sanza. The Dips were
efficient on the other end with 15 goals on just 26 shots, while
also winning 14-of-17 draw controls.
Lussier finished the day with four goals and two assists and
Hargest posted three goals. Maggie Mae Shields tallied two goals
and one assist, while Sarah Veneski dished out a game-high three
helpers and added a goal. Paulette Cutruzzula corralled four draw
controls and posted one ground ball and one caused turnover.
Gettysburg and F&M have met in every conference final dating
back to the 2003 season. The Diplomats have won each of the last
three titles, but the Bullets have won every championship meeting
on their own turf. Gettysburg leads all Centennial schools with six
titles. In the regular season meeting on April 21, the Bullets
edged past the Diplomats 8-7 at Clark Field.
The two archrivals square off Sunday, May 2, at 2 p.m. with the
winner receiving the conference's automatic qualifier to the NCAA
Division III Tournament.
