GENEVA, N.Y. - The No. 2 Salisbury University
women's lacrosse team ran out of time in the 2007 NCAA Division III
national championship game against No. 1 Franklin & Marshall as
the Sea Gulls fell 11-8 on Sunday afternoon here at Hobart and
William Smith Colleges before a crowd of 342.
Salisbury (21-2) scored two goals in 13 seconds in the final
minute of play to pull within three but time wasn't on the side of
the Sea Gulls. Franklin & Marshall (21-0) became the 12th team
to finish the season undefeated and win the women's lacrosse
national championship. This is F&M's second national
championship in the school's history.
The Sea Gulls never led in the wet and soggy game but tied it
three different times in the first half. The last goal before the
half came off the stick of senior Stephanie Shores
off an assist from fellow senior Natalie Degele
(two goals, one assist). The teams were tied 4-4 at the
intermission.
In the second half, the Diplomats scored three unanswered goals
and never looked back. F&M outscored SU 7-4 in the half en
route to the championship. Degele scored with 47 seconds left in
the game and sophomore Robyn Bishop scored 13
seconds later with 34 seconds left on the clock.
"We can't take anything away from Franklin & Marshall," said
SU coach Jim Nestor. "We didn't get in synch on
the offensive end of the field."
F&M was led by tournament Most Outstanding Player Jen
Pritchard who scored four goals in the win for the Diplomats, all
in the second half. Sarah Meisenberg matched Pritchard with four
goals of her own. Ashley Bevington (two goals) and Blake Hargest
(one goal, one assist) were the other goal scorers for the
Diplomats. Hargest finished the tournament with a tournament record
14 assists in four games.
Degele, Bishop and junior defenseman Kelly
Phillips were named to the all-tournament team for
Salisbury.
F&M scored the game's first goal 53 seconds into the game on
a Bevington goal. SU answered as junior Alexis
Morrell scored off an assist from junior Sue
Ackermann (one goal, two assists). The Diplomats ran off
the next two goals before senior Katie Simmons
scored back-to-back goals for the maroon and gold with the latter
coming on Ackermann's second assist. Ackermann finished the season
with 51 goals, 68 assists and 119 points.
F&M dominated the draw controls as the Diplomats won
13-of-20, including six straight in the second half. SU outshot
F&M 27-22 and scooped up 14 groundballs. SU committed 24 fouls
to F&M's 11 and both teams were pretty even on turnovers
(SU-16, F&M-18). The Sea Gulls were 0-for-4 on free-position
shots while F&M connected on 1-of-3.
"I thought it was a great accomplishment for our team [to get
here]," said Nestor. "Our team left it all out on the field."
Salisbury (21-2) completes a record season for wins and its only
two losses came against the Diplomats this season. F&M defeated
the Sea Gulls 8-7 on March 31 in Lancaster, Pa. SU set new school
records for goals (376), assists (195) and points (571) scored. SU
has made the NCAA final four three of the past four seasons and
today's championship appearance was the second time in school
history for the Sea Gulls. SU lost to The College of New Jersey,
9-7, in the 2005 championship game.
"This is a record for our school. We have so much heart and
pride in this time. I wouldn't have asked for a better team to play
for during my college career," said Simmons. "My senior year could
have been better with a championship but we played with heart and
hustle and that is all we could have asked for. And that is a huge
success to have on a team."
