HOBOKEN, N.J. (May 2, 2009) – The top-seeded and 10th-ranked Stevens Institute of Technology women's lacrosse team was stunned by St. John Fisher College, 16-12 on Saturday afternoon at the De Baun Athletic in an Empire 8 Women's Lacrosse Championship semifinal. The fourth-seeded Cardinals tied the score at six with 6:24 to play in the first and never trailed again en route to the huge upset. The win puts Fisher in the conference championship on Sunday afternoon at 12 p.m. versus Rochester Institute of Technology, who defeated Nazareth College in the other semifinal.
Stevens jumped on top early with a goal from sophomore Pamela Loria and junior Empire 8 Player of the Year Alyssa Pigott followed Loria's lead with a tally 1:56 in to make it 2-0.
Fisher got on the board at the 27:42 mark of the first half with a goal from sophomore Meg Merriam (Baldwinsville, N.Y.) as sophomore Mary Stimson (Cicero, N.Y.) recorded the first of her seven assists. Loria answered 17 seconds later to make it 3-1, but Merriam and Stimson hooked up again to make it a one-goal game.
Sophomores Christine Smith and Karen Federico netted goals to make it 5-2 Stevens, but the Cardinals proceeded to score six of the last seven goals in the first half to secure an 8-6 lead going into the break. Sophomore Courtney Clare (Camillus, N.Y.) notched the final two goals for Fisher (9-6).
After Stimson tallied 3:56 into the second half, sophomore Leah Wasserman and Loria registered goals to make it 9-8 Fisher with 20:43 left.
That would be the closest Stevens would get as Clare, junior Ashley Fenyn (Newark, N.Y.), and sophomore Jackie Maynard (Stanley, N.Y.) scored goals in the decisive 4-0 run by Fisher. Loria and junior Kara Borzillo made the score 13-10 with 9:05 remaining, but once again, the Cardinals had the answer, tallying three straight goals to put the game away.
St. John Fisher goalkeeper Vicki Sahm (Baldwinsville, N.Y.) was phenomenal in goal, making 14 saves, nine in the second half, picking up four ground balls, and causing two turnovers. Senior Grace Sack took the loss in net for the Ducks, stopping six shots and scooping up four ground balls.
Clare finished with four ground balls and three draw controls, and junior Lauren Glavin (Syracuse, N.Y.) recorded six points on two goals and four assists. Stimson had eight total points (one goal, seven assists), and Merriam tallied four times, picked up four ground balls, controlled two draws, and caused two turnovers. Maynard came off the bench to score three times.
Sophomore Kate Cox finished with four caused turnovers and two ground balls for Stevens as senior Ali Palen caused two turnovers and registered two ground balls. Wasserman finished with five ground balls and a goal. Loria had a great game in the loss, scoring five times and recording two draw controls. Freshman Ashley Carey caused six turnovers and had a career-high eight ground balls in a great effort off the Stevens bench.
Stevens took 36 shots compared to 25 for Fisher, and it also picked up eight more ground balls. The Ducks controlled 17-of-30 draws but could not take advantage of the extra possessions because of Sahm's stingy play in net.
Earlier in the season, Stevens held off the Cardinals, 17-14 on the same De Baun Athletic Complex field.
Stevens will have to wait and see if it gets selected to participate in the NCAA Women's Lacrosse Championship after a 15-1 regular season and a loss in the conference tournament semifinals.
