Defending National Champion Salisbury Women's Lacrosse Loses To Gettysburg, 14-13, In NCAA Regional Championship Game
The fifth-ranked Salisbury University women's lacrosse team fell
in heartbreaking fashion to No. 7 Gettysburg College in the
Regional final of the 2011 NCAA Division III women's lacrosse
tournament on Sunday at Sea Gull Stadium.
The loss snaps a streak of four-straight NCAA finals appearances
for the Salisbury University women's lacrosse program.
The Bullets' (17-4) Hannah Church scored her team-leading
sixth goal of the game with 10:06 remaining in the second half to
extend the Bullets' lead to 14-10. After three minutes of scoreless
play, SU senior attacker Trish DiGirolomo streaked
past her defender and ripped a shot into the net to cut the deficit
to 14-11. Senior midfielder Morgan Illian drew a
foul and earned a free-position attempt with 3:55 remaining; the
Salisbury, Md., native successfully converted the attempt, cutting
the Gettysburg lead to just two. SU freshman midfielder
Shelby Nemecek won the ensuing draw control to
give Salisbury possesion of the ball; DiGirolomo took full
advantage of the chance, as she added an unassisted goal to bring
the score to 14-13 in favor of Gettysburg. The Bullets claimed
the following draw control and looked to spread the field, but
after a Gettysburg player entered the offensive zone, Salisbury
senior attacker Logan Bilderback stripped the ball
away cleanly to give the Sea Gulls one last chance to tie the
contest. Salisbury senior midfielder Aileen
McCausland cut through the offensive zone and put a shot
on frame, but Gettysburg goalkeeper Maddie Coleman turned away the
shot to maintain the one-goal advantage with 1:01 remaining on the
clock. Gettysburg was able to successfully run out the clock to
earn the program's fifth NCAA semifinal appearance.
Salisbury (19-3) jumped out to a 6-2 lead over the first 14 minutes
of the first half, with six different Sea Gulls tallying
goals. After the sixth SU goal, the Gettysburg coaching staff
called for a time-out; Following the time-out, the
Bullets closed out the half with six-straight goals to take an 8-6
lead at the halftime break.
The second half started out as a back-and-forth affair, as the
teams traded goals three separate times over the first 12 minutes
of the frame. The Bullets tacked on a pair of goals to extend the
lead to 13-9, before sophomore midfielder Lauren
Feusahrens recorded an unassisted goal to cut the lead to
13-10.
Church led the way for the Bullets with a game-high six points on
six goals; Kelsey Markiewicz (three goals) added three points,
while Katie Blumenthal (two goals) and Lindsey Robinson (two
assists) finished with two points.
Coleman finished with nine saves in 60 minutes of action to earn
the win in the net for the Bullets.
Salisbury received four points from both DiGirolomo and Feusahrens,
as they each scored three goals and handed out one assist. Illian
finished shortly behind with three points on two goals and one
helper.
SU senior goalkeeper Julie Ann Caulfield played 31
minutes and collected five saves, while freshman goalkeeper
Ashton Wheatley closed out the contest and staved
off three Gettysburg shots.
Today's game marked the final collegiate contest for seven
Salisbury seniors: Bilderback, Caulfield, DiGirolomo, Liz
Filgueras, Illian, McCausland and Meagan
Osipowich. Over the last four years the group has compiled
a record of 82-7 (92.1 winning percentage), claimed four Capital
Athletic Conference championships, made four NCAA tournament
appearances, advanced to the national semifinals three times and
were part of the program's first national championship, in
2010.
The fifth-ranked Salisbury University women's lacrosse team fell
in heartbreaking fashion to No. 7 Gettysburg College in the
Regional final of the 2011 NCAA Division III women's lacrosse
tournament on Sunday at Sea Gull Stadium.
The loss snaps a streak of four-straight NCAA finals appearances
for the Salisbury University women's lacrosse program.
The Bullets' (17-4) Hannah Church scored her team-leading
sixth goal of the game with 10:06 remaining in the second half to
extend the Bullets' lead to 14-10. After three minutes of scoreless
play, SU senior attacker Trish DiGirolomo streaked
past her defender and ripped a shot into the net to cut the deficit
to 14-11.
Senior midfielder Morgan Illian drew a foul and earned a free-position attempt with 3:55 remaining; the Salisbury, Md., native successfully converted the attempt, cutting the Gettysburg lead to just two. SU freshman midfielder Shelby Nemecek won the ensuing draw control to give Salisbury possesion of the ball; DiGirolomo took full advantage of the chance, as she added an unassisted goal to bring the score to 14-13 in favor of Gettysburg.
The Bullets claimed the following draw control and looked to spread the field, but after a Gettysburg player entered the offensive zone, Salisbury senior attacker Logan Bilderback stripped the ball away cleanly to give the Sea Gulls one last chance to tie the contest. Salisbury senior midfielder Aileen McCausland cut through the offensive zone and put a shot on frame, but Gettysburg goalkeeper Maddie Coleman turned away the shot to maintain the one-goal advantage with 1:01 remaining on the clock.
Gettysburg was able to successfully run out the clock to earn
the program's fifth NCAA semifinal appearance.
Salisbury (19-3) jumped out to a 6-2 lead over the first 14 minutes
of the first half, with six different Sea Gulls tallying
goals. After the sixth SU goal, the Gettysburg coaching staff
called for a time-out; Following the time-out, the
Bullets closed out the half with six-straight goals to take an 8-6
lead at the halftime break.
The second half started out as a back-and-forth affair, as the
teams traded goals three separate times over the first 12 minutes
of the frame. The Bullets tacked on a pair of goals to extend the
lead to 13-9, before sophomore midfielder Lauren
Feusahrens recorded an unassisted goal to cut the lead to
13-10.
Church led the way for the Bullets with a game-high six points on
six goals; Kelsey Markiewicz (three goals) added three points,
while Katie Blumenthal (two goals) and Lindsey Robinson (two
assists) finished with two points.
Coleman finished with nine saves in 60 minutes of action to earn
the win in the net for the Bullets.
Salisbury received four points from both DiGirolomo and Feusahrens,
as they each scored three goals and handed out one assist. Illian
finished shortly behind with three points on two goals and one
helper.
SU senior goalkeeper Julie Ann Caulfield played 31
minutes and collected five saves, while freshman goalkeeper
Ashton Wheatley closed out the contest and staved
off three Gettysburg shots.






