May 24, 2008

by Paul Krome, Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff

BALTIMORE - Penn is for real, and Duke is left to ponder another national semifinal loss after holding a second-half lead.

Senior attacker Rachel Manson caught freshman Giulia Giordano's free-position pass right on the doorstep and easily punched the game-winning goal past Duke's Kim Imbesi with 42 seconds left in the second three-minute overtime period, lifting second-seeded Penn into its first national championship game, 9-8, before an announced 6,300 at Minnegan Field. A foul on Duke's Sarah Kirchhofer gave Giordana, who finished with a goal and two assists, the free-position attempt at the 8-meter, and she quickly fed Manson (2g) goal-line extended on the left side for the winner.

"I looked at Giulia and she looked at me. I knew she was going to pass it to me," said Manson. "A Duke player tried to exit the 8-meter on the wrong side, closer to me, but the referee moved her. I was wide open. There was no defense."

"Giulia was composed in that challenge. Duke collapsed hard but she handled it," said ninth-year Penn head coach Karin Brower, who has seen long years of recruiting workmanlike athletes pay off with back-to-back final-four berths. "We've practiced that (extra pass). That's much harder for a goalie to save than a straight 8-meter shot."

Penn's Allison Ambrozy won the final draw to clinch the win, continuing a trend that allowed the Quakers to rally from a 7-4 deficit with 18:05 to play. Penn won seven of the game's final eight draw controls, and three different scorers helped the Quakers quickly turn that deficit into a tie game. Sophomore Ali DeLuca tallied the equalizer when she blew past Sarah Bullard and ignored a slide by Christina Germinario to beat Imbesi with 11:38 left, forcing reeling Duke to call timeout.

"When we got down 7-4, we got together and said, `Next play,'" said senior Melissa Lehman, who led Penn with three goals. "We needed the ball and we needed possession."

"We made some changes, and Allison Ambrozy did great at the draw controls," said Brower. "Our offense is disciplined. We chipped away."

With 5:40 to play, Lehman drove past Germinario and fired a left-handed goal for an 8-7 Penn lead. But Duke sophomore midfielder Lindsay Gilbride forced a Quaker turnover late in the game, and ultimately she was rewarded for her hustle by earning a free-position attempt. She bounced the tying marker between the legs of goalie Sarah Waxman with one minute left, giving the seemingly snake-bitten Blue Devils new life with overtime on the horizon.

"All I wanted was to get that ball back (after a Penn double-team forced Carolyn Davis into a turnover)," said Gilbride. "We just knew we were going to do it once we got on the 8-meter."

Gilbride had the chance to be the hero for Duke in the first overtime period, when the Blue Devils won the draw and milked the clock. She used a brilliantly placed pick by Davis to drive to the goal, but Waxman stuffed her with 25 seconds left, keeping the score tied at 8 heading into the second extra frame.

Davis, who saw her 2007 semifinal end prematurely with a torn left ACL and meniscus, played like she was on a mission. She scored five goals, all unassisted, and was largely responsible to staking the Devils to their 7-5 lead - as Duke couldn't duplicate its balanced scoring efforts in NCAA road wins over Georgetown and Maryland.

"It's heartbreaking because we battled so hard but didn't make it," she said. "We've had the best senior class, but for them it's been four times in the semifinals (and losing). It's just disappointing because we played so hard."

Penn will take on Northwestern in the championship game at 7 p.m. Sunday in a rematch of the Quakers' 11-7 regular-season win on April 27.