Posted: May 08, 2009
Roanoke (16-4) will travel to The College of New Jersey to take on Gettysburg (14-3) on Saturday May 9 at 2:30 p.m. The Maroons advanced to the second round for the first time since 2007 with a 14-9 win over Cabrini on Wednesday. The Bullets received a first-round bye.
Maroons in the NCAA Tournament
Roanoke is making its ninth NCAA Tournament appearance and holds a 4-8 record in the post-season. Before the 2007 season, the Maroons hadn't made the tournament in 10 years. In '97, the women lost in the first round to #7 Johns Hopkins, 15-7. The last NCAA Tournament win before Wednesday came in 2007 with a 15-4 win over in-state rival Christopher Newport. The Maroons have advanced to the National Semifinals in 1990 and '92.
This year marks the second time in the last three years that Roanoke has advanced to the regional semifinals. The winner of the this game will take on the either TCNJ-Cortland on Sunday at 3 p.m. at TCNJ for the regional championship.
Last Time Out - (14-9 W over Cabrini, NCAA First Round)
Down 3-2 midway through the first half, Roanoke reeled off six of the next seven goals and never looked back as they defeated Cabrini, 14-9 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Wednesday evening. The Maroons (16-4) will advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament while the Cavaliers end their season at 12-5.
With the score tied 4-4 with just over a minute remaining in the first half, two Roanoke players were given yellow cards and had to sit out for three minutes which went into the start of the second half. Gina Valles free-position goal with nine-seconds left to take a 5-4 lead at the half.
Valles continued her dominance in the second period as she scored her second man-down goal of the game within the first two minutes of the half to take a 6-4 lead. She scored three of the first four Maroon goals to take an 8-5 lead with 23:49 in the second half as Cabrini called timeout.
The Cavaliers' timeout paid off, scoring back-to-back goals to close to within one, 8-7 with 17:35 left. After Carolyn Miller and Meegan Rourke scored goals for Roanoke, Jacquelin McDermott answered with a goal of her own to make it, 10-8 at the 11:57 mark.
Mary Kate Cummings delivered the final blow for Roanoke, scoring three of the final four goals for the Maroons to seal their 16th win of the season. The 16 wins tie the 1988 team for the second-most single-season wins in school-history.
Roanoke outshot Cabrini, 40-27 and won in groundballs, 30-21. The Maroons were successful in 21-of-26 clear attempts and all four of their free-position shots.
Valles finished with three goals, one assist and three caused turnovers to lead Roanoke. Paige Mason scored two free-position goals along with two assists. Miller and Cummings scored three goals each and Rourke added two to help the Maroons in the win.
Bianca Catta-Preta scored a goal and caused a season-best five turnovers. Katlyn Scarlett finished with nine saves, seven in the second half and collected two groundballs.
Kerri Ricker and Amand Alexandrowicz scored two goals each to lead the Cavaliers. Jamie O'Hanlon added a goal and an assist while Kate Schmid collected three groundballs, caused four turnovers and stopped 20 shots in the losing effort.
Last meeting (14-2 loss, March 5th, 2008)
Gina Valles and Brooks Laufman each tallied a goal and the Bullets ran over the Maroons in Orlando, Fla. Gettysburg, ranked #5 in the nation at the time, outshot Roanoke 38-18 in the contest and won the ground ball battle 25-17.
Gettysburg earned its seventh consecutive bid to the NCAA Tournament and finished the season with a 17-4 overall record - the seventh-straight season of 15 or more wins for the program. Roanoke finished the year 10-8 with an ODAC Championship game appearance. It was the only meeting against Gettysburg.
Last Post-Season Game - 2007 NCAA Regional Semifinals #1 Franklin and Marshall)
LANCASTER, Pa. - Franklin & Marshall reeled off 11 unanswered goals to cruise to a 13-2 win over Roanoke in the second round of the NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse Championships Saturday afternoon.
The Diplomats (18-0) held the Maroons (15-4) scoreless for the first 48:54 of the contest, and out-shot their guests 33-14. The victory earned F&M the right to face the winner of this afternoon's meeting between Mary Washington and Babson tomorrow afternoon.
Shannon Summers (N. Wales, PA / Hill School) second goal of the afternoon came with 21:09 showing in the first half. It stood up as the game-winner. She got the Diplomats on the board in the game's third minute, and finished her hat trick in the second half.
Jen Pritchard's (Media, PA / Penncrest) free position goal at 24:01 broke up Summers' pair. It was the first of five goals for Pritchard on the day. She reeled off four straight around the halftime break to make a 7-0 game an 11-0 contest. F&M made good on five of its nine free position shots in the game. Sarah Meisenberg (Severna Park, MD / Severn School) scored on back-to-back eight-meter shots 1:19 apart late in the second half.
Making her first start of the season, Brenna Dolphin (Wilmington, DE / Archmere) scored a pair of goals and assisted on Beverly Menghetti's (Glen Mills, PA / Penncrest) second goal of the year in the game's waning minutes.
Lidia Sanza (Cockeysville, MD / SPSG) made five saves and allowed one goal in just under 49 minutes of work. Chelsea Meerbach (York, PA / York) worked the dividend allowing one goal and making one stop. The two Maroon goals matches the lowest total of offensive production an opponent has managed against F&M this season. The Diplomats held Bryn Mawr to a pair back on April 14.
Roanoke's keeper, Katlyn Scarlett, stopped six shots in each half. Under siege for the duration, she came up with several magnificent saves.
Scouting the Maroons (16-4)
Roanoke has won 16 games this spring, which ties the 1988 team for the second-most in school-history. The Maroons are riding an 11-game winning-streak, which is the fourth-longest in school-history. The women will play against a ranked-opponent for the eighth time this season.
2009 ODAC Player of the Year Gina Valles leads the Roanoke scoring charge with 73 goals and 22 assists for 95 points. She also has 77 ground balls and 122 shots, both team bests. Paige Mason (First-Team All-ODAC), and Carolyn Miller round out the Maroons' scoring with 35 and 32 goals, respectively.
The defense is anchored by senior Carolyn Clark (21 CT, 31 GB), Bianca Catta-Preta (29 CT, 25 GB) and Alida Haslett (32 CT, 41 GB, 26 DC). In the cage for Roanoke is Katlyn Scarlett, with an 8.99 goals against average and a .497 save percentage. Her 165 saves are two shy of tying her 2007 mark. Off the bench, Coach Schwartz brings Mary Kate Cummings, who in 16 games has 13 goals and five assists.
Scouting the Bullets (14-3)
Six of Gettysburg's' 14 wins this season have been by at least 10 goals or more. The Bullets only three losses of the season have come against teams ranked #2 in the nation, two coming against in-conference rival, Franklin & Marshall. They are the only team in the regional without a conference title.
Gettysburg is making its eighth consecutive and ninth overall appearance in the NCAA Division III Tournament, all since 2000. The Bullets are 9-8 all-time in the tournament and have finished as high as runner-up in 2006.
Gettysburg has five 20 goal scorers, including Hollis Stahl who has a team high 53 on the year. Nina Emala leads the team with 78 points (42G, 36A). Kristen Krammer is solid in goal for the Bullets posting an 8.43 goals against average and a .458 save percentage. In their last game, Lexie Hearn scoring three goals brining her total to 29, to go along with a .518 shot percentage.
Record Watch
Gina Valles is eight points shy of seventh all-time on the career scoring list (174), five goals away from fifth on the career list (137) and four draw controls shy of third (101). She is four goals from breaking the single-season mark (73) and 15 shots shy of the single-season record (150). Both marks are held by 2008 Hall of Famer Ali Ogelsby ‘98. Valles needs six groundballs to move into eighth on the single-season list (77).
Paige Mason is two points away from 16th on the all-time scoring list (136), four points from 14th. She needs four more draw controls to become the fifth player at Roanoke with 100 for her career. She also needs two more assists to move into fifth in single-season assists (32).
Brooks Laufman is four points away from 18th on the all time scoring list and three shots away from seventh in career shots. Katlyn Scarlett is eight saves away from second all-time at Roanoke and 18 shy of 700 for her career. Her career save percentage is currently .555, which ranks her fourth all time.
