SALISBURY, Md. - The No. 2 and top-seeded
Salisbury University women's lacrosse team successfully defended
its Capital Athletic Conference championship on Saturday afternoon
as they beat second-seeded University of Mary Washington, 14-11, in
front of a crowd of 500 to claim its fifth straight CAC title,
seventh overall, and qualify for the 2007 NCAA Division III Women's
Lacrosse tournament which will be announced on Sunday, May 6.
With the win, the Sea Gulls (18-1) set a school record for most
wins in a season. The previous record was 17 which was set in both
the 2005 and ‘06 seasons.
Just like the first meeting between the Sea Gulls and Eagles
(14-6), UMW scored the game's first two goals to take a 2-0 lead.
After the teams traded four goals, SU scored five of the final six
goals of the half to take a 7-5 lead into halftime.
UMW's Kaitlyn Barker scored four first half goals and finished
with a game-high six goals to increase her season total to 69.
Senior Stephanie Shores scored a team-high five
goals to give her 52 for the year, the highest single-season total
for Salisbury since Jen Mezzadra netted 84 goals in '01.
The Sea Gulls opened up the second half just as they closed the
first half scoring five of the first six goals to push their lead
to 12-6. The Eagles cashed in on four of the next five goals to cut
the lead to 13-10 with 10:06 left to play but Salisbury ran a stall
offense which ate up the majority of the remaining time to secure
the victory.
Sophomore Sonja Stuart made her first start in
goal for Salisbury as she recorded 13 saves to pick up the win
while the defense held UMW's leading scorer Meaghan O'Leary
scoreless.
UMW's Meredith Deitrick made 14 saves in the loss.
Junior Sue Ackermann added to her impressive
season numbers as she finished with four points (three goals and
one assist) to give her 104 points on the year.
The first round of the Division III tournament is on Wednesday,
May 9.
