Archive for the ‘Women's Lacrosse’ Category

May 3rd, 2009 | 11:50 pm

Women’s lacrosse takes No. 2 seed

When the NCAA Tournament seeding was announced Sunday night, it was no surprise where the Terrapin women’s lacrosse team ended up. The undefeated Terps (19-0) earned the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, the undefeated Terps (19-0) behind the only other undefeated team in the country, Northwestern (19-0), in the 16-team field.

In their first round game, the Terps will face Colgate (14-4), the Patriot League champion and the No. 29 team in LaxPower.com’s computer ratings. The Terps are No. 2 in the same ratings. Though the Terps and Raiders have never met, Colgate lost to the only ranked team it played this season. The Terps boast 13 top 20 wins and outscored their unranked opponents by an average of nine goals.

The action will start at noon in College Park. The Terps would play either No. 7 seed Syracuse (13-4) or Boston (15-3) at home in the next round, neither of whom they faced this season. While playing at home should give the Terps confidence, as coach Cathy Reese has only one loss in College Park in her three years heading the program, that lone loss was in last year’s NCAA tournament second round.

But Duke, the team that upset the No. 3 seed Terps in last year’s tournament, is safely on the other side of the bracket this time around, joined by Virginia. No. 3 seed North Carolina is the only other ACC team in the half of the bracket headed by the Terps, but the conference rivals would not meet until the Final Four.

If the Terps do make it to the Final Four, not an unlikely scenario, they would still stay close to home, as the semifinals and final will be at Towson University’s Johnny Unitas Stadium May 22 and 24.

April 15th, 2009 | 09:32 pm

Terp Tewaaraton Trifecta

When the list of Tewaaraton nominees came out today, the question was not if a Terrapin women’s lacrosse player would be on it, it was how many.

Three Terps are among the 25 nominees for the Tewaaraton Trophy, the award given annually to the nation’s top collegiate lacrosse players, one male and one female. Midfielder Caitlyn McFadden and attackers Sarah Mollison and Karri Ellen Johnson represent the team. Only three schools have three players on the list, proving the depth the No. 2 Terps (15-0) possess on offense this season.

Junior co-captain McFadden is an expected presence on the list. One of only four returning starters on the team, an All-American last season and a member of the U.S. national team, McFadden is second on the team in points and goals, with 58 and 35, respectively.

Mollison, a sophomore who plays on the Australian national team, has been the Terps’ assist specialist this season, leading the ACC with 32. Combined with 29 goals, she has 61 points for the season, the highest total on the team and the second highest in the conference.

First-year attacker Johnson has been a surprise for the Terps this year, leading the second-ranked Terp offense with 55 goals and 53 draw controls, a performance that has made her the sole freshman nominee.

These Terps will start to make their case for the Tewaaraton by leading the attack for the ACC regular season champions at Virginia Tech on Saturday in the team’s final game before the ACC Tournament, which starts April 23. The Tewaaraton Trophy will be given out at a May 28 ceremony.

April 19th, 2008 | 09:00 pm

Spring wreaking havoc

While spring time brings forth great weather and greenery, it also brings bees and pollen.

The media box was full of both and the women’s lacrosse sports information director Matt Lynch was being abused by the pollen with bad eye allergy symptoms. Thankfully my eyes were not affected, considering my cornea is already bleeding from a previous spring perk- wind blowing small tree parts into my eye, it was a good thing.

But the bees were bugging, which was not pleasant because I am allergic. While I did not run away screaming from the booth came close.

While the media box wasn’t the place to be, it was a good day for lacrosse and the Terps women’s lacrosse team took care of their business. They put together an emotional win to clinch the top seed in the ACC tournament.

The Terps and Virginia are now the top two seeds and have a first round bye. Duke is the third seed and will play sixth seed Virginia Tech and fifth seed North Carolina will play fourth seed Boston College.

Hopefully when I head down to Charlottesville, Va., for the tournament I will remember the Benadryl and the Bug off-spray so I can fully enjoy the game.

bkapurdbk@gmail.com

April 12th, 2008 | 07:35 pm

Dual Track Meets at Fetzer Field

Chapel Hill, N.C – So I am back in Chapel Hill. While it’s not quite as wild as last week, it was pretty nutty once again. The ride down included zero visibility due to torrential rain, but it did clear up.

Upon arrival at Fetzer Field, there was a track meet and it got very interesting. There were a lot of blowout races, but there was one controversial race that caught my attention.

A Tar Heel runner was leading the way on the 400 meter relay, but a runner from St. Augustine’s caught up and took the lead down the stretch run. With victory seemingly in hand, the St. Augustine runner pulled up and stepped off the track thinking she had completed the race. But she was three meters short of the finish line and was disqualified, that awarded the Tar Heel runner with the win.

The Terrapin women’s lacrosse team has now taken the field after the 30 minute delay. With the fast Terps’ offense there may be another track meet underway in a few minutes.

bkapurdbk@gmail.com

April 5th, 2008 | 01:50 pm

What a day

After a week of debating a trip to Chapel Hill, N.C., for the women’s lacrosse ACC/ALC Challenge, I finally made it down. But even the ride down caused some uncertainty. On the way, I found out that the game was pushed up an hour to 4 p.m. due to a thunderstorm threat.

I ended up getting there with just enough time to get dressed at Carmichael Fieldhouse and get over to Fetzer Field in time for the game.

After the crazy ride, things were just as nutty.

The press box had a unique guest, coach Cathy Reese’s newborn daughter, Cayden. Throughout the game sports information director Matt Lynch was attempting to be a babysitter, until a Tar Heel SID had to help him out.

Before this experience, Matt said he would see the newborn and want a baby. Now those feelings are now long gone.

Although watching Matt try to babysit was entertaining, the Terrapin women’s lacrosse game against Penn State was even better. It was only the third close game the Terps played all season, but by far the most dramatic. The Terps won the game in triple overtime when Kelly Kasper scored in the sudden death overtime period.

I can only hope that Sunday’s action, both on the field and in the press box, is as entertaining.

bkapurdbk@gmail.com