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.
Spartans Stun Cardinals in CAC Quarterfinals
Apr 22, 2007