GETTYSBURG, Pa. (May 15, 2010) – The No. 8 Stevens Institute of Technology women's lacrosse team fell to eighth-ranked Trinity College (Conn.), 17-8, in a Regional semifinal of the NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse Championship on Saturday afternoon at Clark Field in Gettysburg, Pa. The Bantams dominated the battle of draw controls and were able to thwart a vaunted Ducks offense throughout much of the game. Stevens, which captured its first-ever Empire 8 title and NCAA Tournament win in 2010, ends its season with an overall mark of 17-3.
Trinity opened the game with a pair of tallies 3:09 into the action. Sophomore Liz Bruno (Andover, Mass.) turned the game's opening possession into a goal and following a pair of Duck turnovers, freshman Megan Leonhard (Summit, N.J.) made it 2-0 Bantams.
Senior goalkeeper Shannon McFadden made four saves in the game's first six minutes to limit the damage as the Ducks struggled to get into their offense, turning the ball over five times early on. Senior Alyssa Pigott found freshman Spencer Waybright after a scramble for a loose ball to cut the Trinity lead to one with 20:11 to play in the first half. Stevens had several chances to tie over the next five-plus minutes but sophomore goalkeeper Stephanie Fisher (Brunswick, Maine) made a pair of stops, and Bantam junior Caitlin Irvine (Westwood, Mass.) was able to notch her 40th goal of the season with 14:26 in the opening stanza.
Trinity pushed the lead to three (4-1) 1:30 later when freshman Kaitlin Hildebrand (Berwyn, Pa.) put a shot into the top-right corner of the goal after a pretty feed from senior Jenn Carver (Barnard, Vt.), and freshman Haley Thompson (Ipswich, Mass.) followed with a tally to make it 5-1 Trinity.
Junior Leah Wasserman had a solid look at the goal on the Ducks' next possession but rifled a shot off the left post. McFadden was able to come up with a big save on Trinity free-position attempt, and junior Pamela Loria turned the resulting chance into a goal, finding the back of the net after a great look from Wasserman with 8:18 remaining before the break.
Trinity scored two of the game's next three goals and went into the locker room with a 7-3 lead. The Bantams outshot Stevens 20-7 in the first half and also picked up double the ground balls (12-6). They also won 8-of-10 draw controls. McFadden did a nice job in net for the Ducks, making seven saves.
Trinity opened up a 9-3 lead with a pair of free-position tallies early in the second half, but Wasserman found the back of the net with 26:34 left to slow the Bantam momentum and trim the lead to five. Pigott picked up her second assist of the contest and 90th point of the season on the play. Junior Michelle Buonacuore was able to pull the Ducks within four 58 seconds later, but Leonhard answered for Trinity to make it a 10-5 game with 23:55 to play. Irvine gave the Bantams an 11-5 lead with a shade more than 20 minutes left as the Bantams continued to dominate the draw-possession battle, taking three of the first four in the second half.
Trinity began to display great patience on offense, taking a lot of time off the clock on the offensive end and opened up an eight-goal lead with less than 12 minutes to go. The Bantams were able to push their lead to nine (14-5), but Stevens sophomore Jenna Scheibling was able to stop the Trinity run at five. Pigott followed Scheibling's tally with her first of the game to cut the lead to seven (14-7).
The Bantams scored three of the game's last four goals for the final margin as the Ducks were outshot 33-15 and Trinity won 20-of-26 draws. The Bantams won the ground ball battle as well, 20-16.
McFadden ended her day with eight saves, and her counterpart, Fisher, was credited with three stops.
Pigott led Stevens with four points on a goal and three assists, while Scheibling and Waybright each scored a pair. Sophomore Ashley Carey and Waybright each had two draw controls, while Carey also had a team-high two caused turnovers. Junior captain Kate Cox led the Ducks with four ground balls.
Irvine, Leonhard, Phelps, junior Alisen Urquhart (Redding, Conn.), and Bruno all scored multiple goals for Trinity as Calver and Urquhart each scooped up a team-best four ground balls. Eight Bantams accumulated multiple draw controls.
Trinity, now 15-3 this season, will play host Gettysburg for the Regional championship on Sunday at 3 p.m.
