WOMEN’S LACROSSE Hoyas Fall Inches Short Of Title

Charles Nailen/The Hoya Sophomore attack Wick Stanwick scores one of her two goals of the contest.

BALTIMORE – It took just one flick of the stick to end things, sending Maryland players into a wild celebration while the Hoyas on the field collapsed in disbelief and disappointment at the conclusion of the closest NCAA women’s lacrosse final in history.

Georgetown had its chances to win, but it was Maryland that came out on top in the 14-13 double-overtime thriller that saw the Hoyas come back from an 8-1 first-half deficit. Despite the loss, the first Final Four in Georgetown women’s lacrosse history was described by freshman Melissa Ellers as “a dream come true” during a teary-eyed post-game press conference.

Georgetown’s first trip to an NCAA national championship in any sport since the Hoyas lost to Villanova in the 1985 men’s basketball NCAA final turned out to be a memorable one.

Things got off to a good start for the Hoyas, as senior All-American Sheehan Stanwick found the back of the net two minutes into the game to give Georgetown the early 1-0 lead.

However, the next 17 minutes weren’t quite as good for the Hoyas.

Maryland, now winners of seven consecutive national championships, responded quickly and blitzed Georgetown with eight consecutive goals. A goal at 27:05 in the first half opened the doors for the Terrapins, and they were virtually unstoppable for a stretch after that.

Maryland simply ran circles around Georgetown and scoring the last of the eight goals by the 11:20 mark in the first half. The scores came from seven different Terrapins, although it was senior All-American Jen Adams that was the focal point of the attack, scoring a goal and dishing out three assists during the run.

The seven-goal deficit against the six-time defending national champion seemed to be an insurmountable margin, but the Hoyas clawed their way back into the game. Head Coach Kim Simons pulled senior goalie Bowen Holden for a minute (Holden had seen more than 15 shots while allowing 8 goals by this point) and sophomore Wick Stanwick and junior Erin Elbe got the attack jumpstarted with a pair of goals apiece during a five-minute stretch late in the first period.

Sheehan Stanwick’s second goal of the day capped a remarkable turnaround before the half and cut the deficit to 9-6 at the midway point. After being outscored 8-1 in the first 19 minutes of the game, Georgetown had rebounded to outscored Maryland 5-1 over the next 11 minutes to turn a potential blowout into a much tighter game.

“I don’t think we ever doubted in our ability to come back,” said Sheehan Stawick, who was instrumental at the offensive end for the Hoyas, finishing with two goals and three assists.

But it was Erin Elbe who shone the brightest for Georgetown, scoring six goals to anchor the Hoyas’ scoring on the afternoon. It was Elbe who started things up in the second half on a free position shot to bring the Hoyas within two, 9-7.

Maryland widened the lead to 11-7, but Elbe sparked a 5-1 run to end regulation with a free position score, one of her three free position goals on the day. Freshman Gloria Lozano scored twice during the run, continuing her solid tournament play highlighted by her game-winning goal with seven seconds left against Loyola in the national semifinal.

Regulation ended with the score knotted at 12 apiece, and a six-minute overtime ensued. The Terrapins found the net first in the extra period, but Elbe responded with her sixth goal off a feed from Sheehan Stanwick. Each team hit the crossbar of the net with a shot in the extra period, but both times the ball bounced away and the overtime period ended with the score tied at 13 and tension mounting in the crowd of 3,535.

The second overtime period was sudden death format, and Georgetown gained possession from the face off to set up its offense. Elbe came within inches of ending the contest with two near misses, one skipping off of the top of the cross bar while another flew just wide left of the net. Georgetown recovered the ball after the shot, however Sheehan Stanwick was stripped of the ball cutting across the arc and Maryland took over with under a minute remaining.

The Terrapins streaked down the field and hurriedly attacked the Hoya goal as time quickly ran off the clock in the second overtime period. With the Georgetown defense focusing on Adams and some of aryland’s other offensive weapons, Allison Comito drove toward the goal, received a perfect pass from Tori Wellington and slammed a shot past Holden from four yards out for the win.

“She just slipped into the middle and was at the right place at the right time and she finished it,” Lozano said, and that was all it took for the Terrapins to clinch their seventh straight championship, this one coming in dramatic fashion.

“A coach couldn’t be more proud of a team than I am today with what my team was able to accomplish and they never gave up and kept fighting,” Simons said about the culmination of what she called “the best weekend I’ve ever had.”

“I felt we had the team to let them play,” Simons said. “I felt we had the finishers on the attack, I thought we had the goalie in the cage, and I thought we had the defense and the mentality to be able to go at Maryland and try to take it to them. That was our game plan.”

After struggling in the opening minutes, that is what Georgetown did for the rest of the game, returning to their traditionally aggressive attack and solid defense. The Hoyas went right at the Terrapins despite facing an overly aggressive Maryland squad that was called for 11 more fouls than Georgetown and given an incredible nine cards during the course of the game, including one that led to the ejection of junior attack Courtney Hobbs with 20:17 remaining in regulation.

For Georgetown, the championship game performance will one day be remembered as a valiant comeback that fell just short, but for now the feeling is heartbreak and disappointment.

The Hoyas made their first ever trip to the Final Four this year by defeating Hofstra 20-5 in the first round of the NCAA tournament then downing North Carolina 10-4 in the quarterfinals. A comeback 10-9 victory over Loyola (Md.) in the national semifinal set up the showdown with the Terrapins for the national championship.

The appearance by Georgetown in the national championship was the culmination of the most successful season to date in the history of the women’s lacrosse program, but with 24 underclassmen returning and another solid recruiting class set to arrive on the Hilltop in the fall, there is no doubt that the Hoyas will be right there to challenge the Terrapins in future years.