SALISBURY, Md. - The No. 1 Salisbury University
women's lacrosse team advanced to the semifinals of the 2008
Capital Athletic Conference tournament with its 22-0 victory over
Hood College Sunday afternoon at Sea Gull Stadium. The triumph
extends Salisbury's Division III best win streak to 18 games while
the maroon and gold is 47-0 in CAC play since 2003.
The Sea Gulls (18-0) were in complete control as they shutout
the Blazers and prevented them from taking a shot attempt. Hood was
outmatched as the Gulls had 15 different players score at least one
point on the day meanwhile the Blazers had only 13 players compete
in the game.
SU opened up the offense early as senior All-American
Sue Ackermann (two goals, five assists) got
involved in five of the games' first six goals, with three
consecutive assists to start the game and back-to-back goals five
minutes into play. Ackermann has scored a team-high 120 points with
64 goals and 56 assists in 2008. She finished last season with a
career best 119 points.
Seniors Jessica Liston and Allison
Sofranko led top-seed SU in goals scored on the day but
were split by halves. Liston netted all three of her scores in
the first half to set the stage for Sofranko's three second half
tallies. Three other Sea Gulls had three-point games as sophomores
Molly McBride (two goals, one assist), Kim
Cudmore (two goals, one assist) and Meghan
Ricketts (one goal, two assists) each forced the
eighth-seed Blazer defense and goalie Lauren Lieb (two saves) to
stay back on their heels.
Senior Alexis Morrell (one goal, three assists)
and freshman Meaghan Osipowich (two goals, two
assists) each earned four points in the CAC opening round victory
to give SU's squad of goalies enough cushion to remain comfortable.
Junior Sonja Stuart earned her 18th win of the
season while sophomore Natalie Pappas and freshman
Julie Ann Caulfield each spent time in the net for
the Gulls, none of whom were tested with a Blazer shot.
The maroon and gold will take on fifth-seed Villa Julie College
at Sea Gull Stadium in the CAC semifinals Tuesday, April 22,
at 5 p.m. VJC defeated fourth-seed York (Pa.) College 13-11 in
another Sunday first round game. The Gulls got the best of the
Mustangs in their regular-season matchup by a score of 21-2 on
March 11.
