NCAA SEMI-FINALS Princeton over Vanderbilt & Virginia over Georgetown May 21, 2004

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Tigers Use Big Second Half to Defeat Vanderbilt, 11-3

Sometimes a lacrosse game, like life, can change in the blink of an eye. And when the second half whistle blew in Princeton's NCAA semifinal game against Vanderbilt Friday night, the No. 1 Tigers set about changing it quickly.

With Princeton ahead just 2-1 at halftime in the lowest scoring first half in national semifinal history, Kathleen Miller's goal just 10 seconds into the second half started a six-goal Princeton run that put the game away in an 11-3 victory over the upstart Commodores before 3,215 at Princeton Stadium.

Miller won the draw control on the opening draw and raced down the field to score to give the Tigers a 3-1 lead, and goals in a 1:09 span after that from Tara Hardiman and Caitlin Reimers then gave Princeton (19-0) a 5-1 lead. Two goals after that from Theresa Sherry in a 2:42 span would give the Tigers a 7-1 lead, and Lindsey Biles' goal with 10:58 left made it 8-1 before the Commodores (12-6) scored again.

"I think it just happened," said Miller, who had two goals and an assist. "The ball was right there and I just was running my hardest down the field. I actually thought that I would be taking it around the cage, but the goalie took one step out and there was a little room so I went for it."

The six-goal Princeton run ended the hopes of the upstart Commodores, making their first national semifinal appearance in the nine-year history of the program. Vanderbilt had upset No. 4 seed Loyola and James Madison, both on the road, to reach the national semifinal in just their second NCAA tournament.

"I am proud of this team," said Vanderbilt Cathy Swezey. "We had an amazing run and what we did in the tournament to get here was pretty incredible. "We're really proud of our players. They can hold their heads very high."

The Commodores did a terrific job of slowing the game down early against the undefeated and No. 1 Tigers, who have now won 28 games dating back to last year. Sherry scored on a free-position shot early on to give Princeton a 1-0 lead, and Elizabeth Pillion then scored on an unassisted goal with 10 minutes left in the half, but Vandy's Kate Hickman scored her 40th goal of the year after that and the Commodores trailed just 2-1 at halftime.

The half was the lowest-scoring first half in the 23-year history of the NCAA Division I or National Collegiate semifinals or finals.

"One thing we said is that if we were going to win the game, it had to be in our plan on attack," said Sailer. "We felt we we're playing well. You could just see in the second half that we were seeing each other so much better and looking for each other, and that made all the difference for us."

Hickman had two of Vanderbilt's three goals. Michelle Allen had two assists for the Commodores.

Pillion added two goals and Biles a goal and an assist for the Tigers, who have won 11 straight NCAA tournament games. Princeton outshot Vanderbilt 29-12, including 22-5 in the decisive second half, and caused 14 turnovers.

Cavaliers Draw Up 12-9 Win Over Georgetown

The Cavaliers (18-3) erupted for two goals in 15 seconds after Georgetown (13-5) had tied the game up with just under 10 minutes to play and held off the Hoyas in the NCAA semifinal round at Princeton, advancing to the NCAA women's lacrosse final against Princeton. Molly Urlock won her third draw of the half after the Hoyas tied up the game and Amy Appelt scored her second goal of the game to give Virginia a lead they would not relinquish. Tyler Leachman then won the second of her three draw controls and took it straight to the cage, scoring 15 seconds after Appelt to give Virginia a two-goal lead. Andrea Pfeiffer made two more saves in the final ten minutes to preserve the victory. The victory is Virginia's 18th, setting a new school record for wins in a season. The win also sets up the same schools in the NCAA final as last year, as the Cavaliers faced Princeton for the 2003 NCAA title.

Leachman won the opening draw of the game and Virginia got the ball to Appelt, who drew a pair of shooting space fouls in the opening seconds. Appelt's shot rocketed off the pipe and Leachman scooped up the ground ball. She got the ball to Banks, who challenged the cage from the top of the fan and scored 1:37 into the game, putting the Cavaliers up 1-0. Morgan Thalenberg won the first of her three draw controls, and the Cavaliers set up in their attack. A Virginia shot was saved and the Hoyas brought it downfield where Elizabeth Pinney caused a turnover in the arc and Jess Wasilewski picked up the ground ball. Wasilewski sent the ball over to Appelt, who took it behind the cage, where she dumped the ball into Leachman, who was cutting into the arc. Leachman scored at 5:05, giving the Cavaliers a 2-0 lead and forcing the Hoyas to call a timeout. Georgetown scored after the timeout as Catherine Elbe converted a Lauryn Bernier pass to put the Hoyas on the board. Bernier then hit an 8-meter shot to tie the game at 2-2 with 18:13 to play in the half.

Appelt won the ensuing draw and fed Thalenberg, who took it into the fan where she was fouled on a drive to the cage. Thalenberg scored on the reset from just outside the arc, putting the Cavaliers on top again at 3-2. Lieb won the next draw and Virginia got the ball to Appelt, who took it behind before dumping it in to Thalenberg, who scored her second consecutive goal 25 seconds after her first to give Virginia a 4-2 lead. Lieb again won the draw and Virginia took the ball upfield where Banks took the ball from the top, scoring 41 seconds after Thalenberg to push the margin up to three at 5-2 with 17:04 to play in the half. A Georgetown goal by Lucy Poole stopped the 3-0 run and pulled the Hoyas to within two. The Hoyas had a chance to pull within one, but Pfeiffer made one of her 10 saves and Pinney scooped up the loose ball. Pinney fed the ball up to Julie Hauser, who took the ball upfield to Courtney Young, who attacked the cage and was fouled on the way in. She scored off the 8-meter and gave the Cavaliers a three-goal lead at 6-3 with 7:17 to play. An Allison Chambers goal with 3:21 cut the lead back to two at 6-4, which was the score at the halftime break.

A Pfeiffer save on an 8-meter shot rebounded out to Kim Connors, who picked it up and threw a long outlet pass that skimmed on the ground before Leachman picked it up at the top of the fan. As she took it to the cage she was fouled and was awarded an 8-meter from the center hash. Leachman converted the free position, putting UVa up 7-4 9:06 into the second half. Another Pfeiffer save on an 8-meter shot started a transition in which Appelt closed it out with a crease roll, scoring her first goal of the game at the 41:48 mark of the contest and giving UVa an 8-4 lead.

Georgetown then went on a 4-0 run over a span of six minutes as Coco Stanwick scored a pair of goals and then fed Anouk Peters before Chambers scored her second goal of the game to tie the game at 8-8 with 9:54 to play.

Urlock won the draw after the Hoyas equalized and Appelt took the ball from the top, scoring 38 seconds after Chambers to put Virginia on top yet again. Leachman won the ensuing draw and took it straight upfield where she scored from the center, putting the Cavaliers up 10-8 just 15 seconds after Appelt's goal.

Pfeiffer again came up big for the Cavaliers as she saved the ball again and started a clear that went to Appelt, who took from the top and was fouled as she shot the ball. Appelt's shot went to the back of the net as she fell to the ground, giving Appelt her 19th hat trick of the season and her school-record 41st of her career. It also gave Virginia a three-goal lead with 6:00 to play. A Bernier goal on a free position with 1:31 to play pushed the margin back to two, but the Cavaliers spread their offense and Banks fed Appelt, who scored on an empty net with 16 seconds to play to account for the final score of 12-9.

Virginia will face Princeton, who defeated Vanderbilt 11-3 in the first semifinal.

The Cavaliers also set a new school record with 18 wins in 2003, breaking the totals set first in the 1993 run to the NCAA title and tied in 1998 when Virginia won the ACC title and again last season as the Hoos advanced to the title game.

Appelt's six points give her 116 for her season, moving her to #9 all-time for scoring in Division I history for points in a season. She now has 273 career points. Her four goals give her 86 for the 2004 season, the eighth-highest single-season total in Division I history. She has 197 career goals and 76 career assists. Appelt and Banks are tied for third in Virginia history with 76 career assists.

Pinney's first ground ball tonight was the 100th of her career and she has 50 ground balls this season. Her four caused turnovers tonight also move her into the Cavaliers' top-10 list with 45 in her career. Lieb's five draw controls give her 44 for the season, which ranks eighth all-time in a single season, while Pfeiffer's 10 saves give her 187 for 2004, a new season-high for her.

ACTION VIDEOS

Princeton's Theresa Sherry to Kathleen Miller    High Bandwidth

Princeton's Tara Hardiman    High Bandwidth Only

Vanderbilt's Ashley Bastinelli    High Bandwidth Only

Vanderbilt Draw    High Bandwidth Only

Another Vanderbilt Draw    High Bandwidth Only

Princeton's Lindsey Biles to Theresa Sherry    High Bandwidth

Princeton's D    High Bandwidth Only

Princeton's Kathleen Miller to Theresa Sherry    High Bandwidth

Vanderbilt's D    High Bandwidth Only

Princeton's Sarah Kolodner    High Bandwidth Only

Vanderbilt's Kate Hickman    High Bandwidth

Princeton's Kathleen Miller    High Bandwidth

Vanderbilt's Michelle Allen to Lauren Peck    High Bandwidth




Virginia's Caitlin Banks    High Bandwidth

Virginia's Tyler Leachman    High Bandwidth

Virginia's Andrea Pfeiffer    High Bandwidth Only

Virginia's Amy Appelt    High Bandwidth Only

Georgetown's Michi Ellers to Coco Stanwick    High Bandwidth Only

Georgetown's Coco Stanwick    High Bandwidth

Virginia's Jessy Morgan    High Bandwidth

Georgetown's Allison Chambers    High Bandwidth

Virginia's Amy Appelt again!    High Bandwidth

Virginia's Tyler Leachman again!    High Bandwidth Only

Virginia's Amy Appelt with the goal of the game!    High Bandwidth

Georgetown's Anouk Peters    High Bandwidth

Virginia's Amy Appelt to Tyler Leachman    High Bandwidth

Virginia's Andrea Pfeiffer again!    High Bandwidth Only

Georgetown's Anouk Peters to Coco Stanwick    High Bandwidth

Georgetown's Lauryn Bernier    High Bandwidth Only

Virginia's Morgan Thalenberg    High Bandwidth

Georgetown's D    High Bandwidth Only

Virginia's Amy Appelt to Courtney Young (called back)    High Bandwidth

Virginia's Courtney Young    High Bandwidth

Georgetown's Allison Chambers again!    High Bandwidth





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