May 17, 2009
No. 1 Salisbury suffers heartbreak in National Championship game
SALEM, Va. - The final two minutes in the 2009
NCAA Division III women's lacrosse national championship seemed
like an eternity for top-ranked Salisbury University as the Sea
Gulls clung to a one-goal lead over No. 2 Franklin & Marshall
College.
In the end the Diplomats forced overtime and won its second
national title in three years, both over Salisbury, with an 11-10
overtime heartbreaking victory against the Sea Gulls before 634 at
Donald J. Kerr Stadium at Roanoke College.
It took Salisbury 23 minutes to regain the lead after the Sea
Gulls (20-2) held a 5-4 advantage at halftime. SU senior
Ashleigh Gender (two goals) scored a free position
goal with 4:47 left in the second half as SU led 10-9.
"I was trying not to think on how important this [free position
attempt] was but more on where I was going to shoot it," said
Gender. "It definitely created a lot of momentum for our team."
Salisbury's defense held its ground against the Diplomats (21-1)
before a failed Sea Gull clear led to an F&M timeout with just
under two minutes to play. Out of the break, F&M shot high of
the Sea Gull cage before freshman Cat Serpe scored an unassisted
goal with 1:02 left with the teams tied at 10.
The Sea Gulls won the ensuing draw control and quickly called a
timeout. Salisbury had a chance to win it as sophomore
Logan Bilderback (two goals, one assist) placed a
shot on goal in the final seconds of regulation but F&M goalie
Lidia Sanza (eight saves) made the save.
In the six-minute overtime period, the Sea Gulls won the draw
control and were patient in the offensive zone. Gender shot high on
Sanza, who made the save, with five minutes left. The Diplomats
went on attack and scored the eventual game-winner as senior Sarah
Meisenberg (two goals, one assist) fed junior Blake Hargest (one
goal, one assist) for the goal out in front of the SU crease.
F&M ran out the clock in the final three minutes of play to
capture the program's second-ever national title.
"I think we had an awesome season. I do not have any regrets. I
gave it all I got and that is all I can do," said SU senior
Courtney Sorenson.
Salisbury ends the season as a national finalist for the third
time in six seasons as the Sea Gulls continue to seek their
first-ever national title. This is the second time SU and F&M
have met in the national title game as the Diplomats defeated the
Sea Gulls, 11-8, in 2007.
SU scored three straight goals, in two minutes, to close out the
first half as the Sea Gulls rallied from down 4-2 to up 5-4 as the
teams went into the break. Sorenson (three goals), sophomore
Meagan Osipowich (two goals) and Bilderback scored
the three goals to give SU some momentum.
The Diplomats scored the first three goals in the second half as
senior Shannon Summers (two goals, two assists) and tournament Most
Outstanding Player Jen Pritchard (four goals) gave F&M the 7-5
lead with 25 minutes left to play.
SU slowly chipped away at the deficit as the teams tied the game
four more times in the second half. Sea Gull goalie Sonja
Stuart (10 saves) kept the maroon and gold within striking
distance of the Diplomats as she made several spectacular
point-blank saves against the high powered F&M offense.
Sorenson scored her third goal in the game off an assist from
Bilderback with 5:28 left in the game. That goal marked the first
and only assisted goal scored by Salisbury. SU won the draw control
and 41 seconds later Gender scored the free position goal to give
the Gulls the 10-9 lead.
F&M outshot Salisbury 34-23 and the Diplomats won 14-of-25
draw controls. Salisbury scored four free position goals while
F&M missed all four of its free position opportunities. SU was
nearly perfect on clears (15-for-16) as the Sea Gulls had 13 ground
balls to F&M's 12. Salisbury committed 13 turnovers in the
loss, eight in the first half.
"That [turnovers] has been our nemesis this year, especially at
the end of the game," said SU coach Jim Nestor, in
his eighth seasson. "The last time we played them [March 29] we
were trying to hold onto it but we ended up turning the ball over.
Luckily they turned the ball back over [and we held on to the 10-9
win]. We need to take this as a learning experience."
The Sea Gulls top two scorers, senior Robyn
Bishop and junior Beth Rhodey, were held
to no points and only four shots in the loss. The two were named to
the all-tournament team for their play in the national semifinal
that SU won 11-10 over No. 7 Gettysburg College. Stuart was also
named to the all-tournament team for Salisbury.
"The loss is tough to take but I have been here for four years
and I have had a great career here. This is my third time to the
final four and second national championship game. It is something
to be proud of. It is a great feeling," said Stuart.
Salisbury will lose nine seniors next season, the majority of
the defense, but will return the starting attack unit from the '09
season. The Sea Gulls set to graduate include Jessica
Chmielewski, Gender, Sorenson, Holly
Johnson, Bishop, Sarah McKinley,
Sarah Maggio, Maddie Goetz and
Stuart.
"The senior class did a lot for us and they leave with a lot of
great memories," said Nestor. "Hopefully the younger players will
cherish and value this experience because it doesn't always come
along."
2009 NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse
Championship
