Spartans Stun Cardinals in CAC Quarterfinals

    WASHINGTON, D.C.-The York College women’s lacrosse team registered the biggest win in the two-year history of the program as the Spartans upset Catholic University 18-17 in double overtime in the 2007 Capital Athletic Conference quarterfinals in Washington, DC on Sunday. The Spartans, who are the sixth seed, improve to 6-8 while the Cardinals fall to 11-5. It is the first CAC tournament victory for the Spartans as they fell to St. Mary’s in the CAC quarters last year.
    It didn’t look good early for the green and white as they trailed 6-2 just under midway through the first half. Both teams scored four goals over the final 15 minutes as the Cardinals took the 10-6 lead to the half.
    The Spartans trimmed the Cardinal lead to 12-11 on a Brianna Yapps (Joppa, MD/Fallston) goal with 15:13 remaining in regulation. Catholic scored four of the next five goals to forge a 16-12 lead with 5:07 left. York responded in championship fashion started with a Yapps goal off a pass from Sara Hester (Manteo, NC/Howard (Md.)) with 4:31 remaining. Kaitlin Davis (Annapolis, MD/St. Mary's) made it 16-14 with an unassisted goal. She was followed with a Jaclyn Girsh (Mahopac, NY/Mahopac) goal with 1:01 remaining in regulation. Sophomore standout Megan Bell (Westminster, MD/Westminster) then forced overtime with a goal just before the horn.
    The Cardinals struck first in the first overtime period as Jessie Euler scored with 2:12 remaining in the first extra session. In the second overtime period, Yapps scored the equalizer at with 1:12 left and then won the game with 42 seconds remaining in the second overtime. The green and white was able to kill of the rest of the clock after Alison Napolitano (Annapolis, MD/Annapolis Area Christian) won the draw control.
    Spartan head coach Allison Fordyce was very proud of her program.
    “I am very proud of this team,” said Fordyce. “To come back time and time again today, it really show the determination and heart of this team. We have been very close all year to getting a break through win and today we were finally able to get one. This is the biggest win in the two years of the program.”
    The tandem of Yapps and Girsh was outstanding for York. Yapps tallied eight points on seven goals and one assist while Girsh chipped in with six goals of her own. Both Girsh and Yapps were deadly on their free position shots as they were both 2-for-2. As a squad, York nailed 5-of-6 free position shots, by far their best percentage of the year. Davis and Napolitano each contributed a pair of goals to the Spartan attack.
    The Cardinals were paced Euler and Katie Robinson as they each had four points on four goals. Courtney Murray also had four points as she had a goal and three assists. Marcy Cuneo tallied three goals for the Cardinals while Katie Bitonti was the other Cardinal with multiple points as she had a goal and an assist.
    Sophomore goalie Anne Fuestle (Baltimore, MD/Catonsville) recorded 16 saves in her 66 minutes of work. Melissa Brashear allowed 18 goals and made just six saves in the loss.
    The Cardinals outshot the Spartans 40-26 in the game while they also held a 24-21 advantage in ground balls. The Spartans committed 24 turnovers while the Cardinals made 16 miscues in the game.
    York advances to face the second seeded Mary Washington Eagles in the tournament semifinals on Tuesday in Fredericksburg. Game time will be determined on Monday.