So much for the 4 hour drive to Stony Brook from Foxboro. In a game that was far from a classic, Northwestern persevered by effectively stalling out the final 10 minutes of the contest. I am not sure if the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy ever envisioned a game like we saw tonight. Was it me or was the non televised side of the stadium completely empty. I guess 12,000 at Johnny Unitas Stadium is viewed as an apathetic turnout.
Note in the summary from umterps.com the quote from Cathy Reese praising her opponent. Cathy is 1st class in victory or defeat!!!
The game almost seemed to be a repeat of last years Terrapin Wildcat game.
Taylor Thornton and Katie Schwarzmann were certainly the 2 stars of the game. The expulsion of Iliana Sanza was a crucial blow to the Terps, especially for the keep away game in the final 9 minutes.
I will ask Cathy Reese about the pulling in of the strings of the sticks that Courtney Conor was talking about.
Both goalies had their moments but the key play of the night was the save on Karri Ellen’s point blank shot with about 9 minutes left. The Terps never threatened again because of the effective stall of the Wildcats.
Oh well I guess it’s wait until next year but I won’t end this piece without thanking the Seniors including goalie Brittany Dipper, Kristy Black, and Karri Ellen Johnson for 4 tremendous years at Maryland. Though disappointment reigns tonight, 4 ACC Titles, a NCAA Championship and 4 Final Fours just isn’t all that bad.
from umterps.com
Despite a gutsy, three-goal showing from Katie Schwarzmann, No. 3 Maryland fell to No. 2 Northwestern 9-7 in the semifinals of the 2012 NCAA Women’s Lacrosse Championship Friday.
Maryland (19-4) fell short of the title game for the first time since 2009. Schwarzmann finished the match with three goals, bringing her season total to 72 and tying the fifth-highest mark in Terrapin single-season history. Kristy Black, Karri Ellen Johnson, Kelly McPartland andBrooke Griffin all added one goal apiece.
The Terps wasted zero time getting its offense running with a goal only 11 seconds into Friday’s rematch of last season’s title bout. Griffin put the Terps on the board first off a nice assist in transition from Black.
The two teams exchanged goals for the opening 12 minutes of the match until Northwestern managed a two-goal spurt to gain its first lead of the game with 15:16 left in the first half. Maryland would counter with three unanswered goals to cap the first stanza and begin the second. Schwarzmann netted two and Johnson accounted for the other in Maryland’s biggest run of the game.
NU (20-2) then recorded the longest scoring stretch of the game with a time-consuming 4-0 run and managed to secure possession for a 12-minute span in the middle of the second half before obtaining an 8-7 lead. Taylor Thornton netted an open-net, free position goal to cap the game’s scoring at 9-7.
Maryland managed only one draw control in the second stanza and a mere five in the match.
The Terrapin defense was stout once again but was burdened by a season-high six yellow cards, including three down the final stretch. Senior Brittany Dipper tallied five saves in the cage. Iliana Sanza was in the middle of another spectacular postseason performance with three ground balls and two caused turnovers before being served a second yellow card with 16:19 remaining in the game.
“Congratulations to Northwestern and Syracuse…I’m looking forward to seeing a great game for the national championship,” head coach Cathy Reese, who’s squad advanced to its fourth straight NCAA semifinal this season, said. “The main difference was draws. We did a better job in the first half, but couldn’t get free. One thing we should have done better was finish our opportunities.”
Friday night’s contest was the collegiate finale for Johnson, Black, Dipper and Bria Phillips. The Terps will return nine starters from this year’s squad in 2013.
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