W&J Nipped By Marywood 7-6 In ECAC Women's Lacrosse Semifinals
SCRANTON, Pa. -- Second-seeded Marywood scored twice in the final five minutes to secure a 7-6 victory over third-seeded Washington & Jefferson on Saturday evening in the semifinals of the 2012 ECAC Mid-Atlantic Women's Lacrosse Tournament.
The host Pacers (16-4) will face fourth-seeded Alvernia in the championship match on Sunday. Diana D'Achille scored four goals to lead Marywood.
W&J (13-4) bounced out to a 2-0 lead 10 minutes into the match after goals by seniors Liz Turcik (Ligonier, Pa./Miss Halls School) and Brittney Oake (Belle Mead, N.J./Montgomery). Marywood scored twice 36 seconds apart to tie the game, but Turcik found the back of the net at the 7:11 mark for a 3-2 W&J lead.
D'Achille forced a 3-3 halftime tie after scoring 15 seconds before the break. She then gave the Pacers their first lead 77 seconds into the second half and Taylor McKeown followed with a goal three minutes later.
W&J responded with goals from senior Lauren Novak (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) and junior Megan Kelly (South Park, Pa./Seton-LaSalle) to tie the match with 17:34 remaining. The score remained that way until D'Achille netted a goal at the 5:22 mark. Brooks Bonduarant made it a 7-5 lead for the Pacers with 2:11 left on the clock, but Oake cut the lead in half with her second goal of the match on a free position shot with 1:10 remaining.
After D'Achille controlled the draw, the Presidents forced a turnover with 23 seconds left, but were unable to get a shot on net.
Oake and Turcik led the W&J offense with two-goal efforts. Novak assisted on one goal, while junior Brittany Fradkin (Owings Mills, Md./St. Paul's School) also notched one assist. Junior Julia McLellan (Walkersville, Md./Walkersville) made 12 saves in the losing effort.
The Presidents, who were outshot by a 24-14 margin, finished the spring with a 13-4 record for the third consecutive season.
