DURHAM, N.H.--America East Player of the Year Jessie Groszkowski netted five goals to propel top-seeded New Hampshire to a 21-5 victory over No. 4 Vermont in the semifinals of the America East Women's Lacrosse Championship Thursday afternoon at Lewis Fields. The Wildcats offensive output breaks the America East Championship record for goals in a game previously held by Boston University. The Terriers scored 18 goals in both their semifinal and championship wins in 2000.
New Hampshire will play No. 2 Boston University, a 19-4 winner over third-seeded Albany. The Wildcats and Terriers will meet at Durham on Saturday at 1 p.m.
The Terriers, who will play in their fourth-straight conference title game, won the America East Championship in 2000. The Wildcats, now in their seventh year in the women's lacrosse conference, are making their first appearance in the championship game.
Groszkowski opened the scoring for New Hampshire (12-5) 3:51 into the game on an assist from Meagan Clavin, and made it 2-0 nine seconds later on an unassisted tally. New Hampshire netted the first 10 goals of the contest before Vermont's Courtney Keefe notched the Catamounts' first goal with just under 14 minutes to play in the first half.
The Wildcats owned a 12-2 halftime advantage. Molly Cherington made it 13-2 1:49 into the second half as the Wildcats extended the lead to 15-2 before Sarah Booker scored for Vermont (7-8) at the game's 35:42 mark.
Keefe notched a hat trick for Vermont, while Nicole Moore, Sarah Cahill, Sue Yund and Cherington each notched two goals for New Hampshire. Kelly Blaney assisted on three of the Wildcat tallies.
Rookie midfielder Alyssa Trudel had three goals and four assists to lead second-seeded Boston University to a 19-4 victory over No. 3 Albany in the America East Women's Lacrosse Championship semifinals at Lewis Fields.
Hannah Cross had four goals for Boston University (7-11), while Ericka Hergenroeder and Katie Nordhoff each netted three goals. Nordhoff also recorded the 100th point of her career in the game.
Andrea Esposito had a goal and an assist to lead Albany (6-10).
Kristin Abruzzese got the Terriers on the board just eight seconds in on an unassisted tally and helped the Terriers build a 4-0 lead less than two minutes into the game. Trudel followed Abruzzese's goal for a 2-0 lead 57 seconds into the contest. Sasha Lang and Hergenroeder made it 4-0 with goals at 1:13 and 1:43, respectively.
Boston University pushed the lead to 9-0 before Jenn Rajczak netted the first Great Dane goal at the 20:34 mark. The Terriers held a 9-1 cushion at the half.
Brooke Barrett, Anne Sheridan and Lauren Beatty combined to stop 11 Great Dane shots on goal. Michelle Talviste made three saves for Albany in the first 10:43 before giving way to Francine Beltempo, who stopped six shots.
Danielle Martin stopped eight shots for New Hampshire, while Kate McBride (3) and Holly Roberts (7) combined to stop 10 shots for the Catamounts.
Game summary
No. 4 Vermont at No. 1 New Hampshire - May 2, 2002 - Lewis Fields
No. 4 Vermont (7-8) 2-3--5
No. 1New Hampshire (12-5) 12-9--21
Goals:
UVM (5): Courtney Keefe (3), Sarah Booker, Vanessa Cox
UNH (21) - Jessie Groszkowski (5), Nicole Moore (2), Sarah Cahill (2), Sue
Yund (2), Molly Cherington (2), Brownyn Leto, Jill Albee, Jess Burnap,
Hilary Maynes, Jen Smith, Meagan Clavin, Laura Dosdall, Renee Nemmers
Assists:
UVM (1) - Corrine St. John
UNH (11) - Kelly Blaney (3), Jess Burnap (2), Hilary Maynes, Jen Smith,
Sarah Cahill, Meagan Clavin, Sue Yund, Molly Cherington
Saves:
UVM - Kate McBride 3, Holly Roberts 7
UNH - Danielle Martin 8
UNH UVM
Shots 35 17
Ground balls 33 30
Caused turnovers 10 14
Draw controls 15 10
Team Player (assist) Time Score
UNH Groszkowski (Clavin) 3:51 1-0
UNH Groszkowski 2 (--) 4:00 2-0
UNH Yund (--) 4:40 3-0
UNH Cahill (Cherington) 6:11 4-0
UNH Clavin (Yund) 7:09 5-0
UNH Moore (--) 7:43 6-0
UNH Burnap (Maynes) 9:21 7-0
UNH Cahill 2 (--) 14:10 8-0
UNH Cherington (Blaney) 15:16 9-0
UNH Groszkowski 3 (Cahill) 15:44 10-0
UVM Keefe (--) 16:10 10-1
UNH Maynes (--) 17:40 11-1
UNH Moore 2 (--) 18:59 12-1
UVM Keefe 2 (St. John) 23:49 12-2
UNH Cherington 2 (Burnap) 31:49 13-2
UNH Groszkowski 4 (Burnap) 33:37 14-2
UNH Leto (FPG) 35:16 15-2
UVM Booker (--) 35:42 15-3
UNH Dosdall (FPG) 38:30 16-3
UNH Nemmers (Blaney) 42:02 17-3
UVM Keefe 3 (--) 51:48 17-4
UVM Cox (--) 53:36 17-5
UNH Groszkowski 5 (Smith) 54:04 18-5
UNH Albee (--) 54:24 19-5
UNH Smith (Blaney) 58:22 20-5
UNH Yund 2 (--) 59:38 21-5
Game summary
No. 2 Boston University vs. No. 3 Albany - May 2, 2002 - Lewis Fields, Durham, N.H.
No. 3 Albany (6-10) 1-3--4
No. 2 Boston U. (7-11) 12-7--19
Goals:
Albany (4): Jenn Rajczak, Amanda Heller, Maria Ferrucci, Andrea Esposito
BU (19) - Hannah Cross (4), Alyssa Trudel (3), Ericka Hergenroeder (3), Katie Nordhoff (3),
Kristin Abruzzese (2), Sasha Lang (2), Kelly Trahon, Molly Byrne
Assists:
Albany (2) - Andrea Esposito, Alexis DiDomenico
BU (11) - Alyssa Trudel (4), Kristin Abruzzese (3), Katie Nordhoff (2), Gabby Juocys,
Ericka Hergenroeder
Saves:
Albany - Michelle Taviste (3), Francine Beltempo (6)
BU - Brooke Barrett (3), Anne Sheridan (3), Lauren Beatty (5)
Albany BU
Shots 14 36
Ground balls 30 34
Caused turnovers 10 18
Draw controls 8 18
Team Player (assist) Time Score
BU Abruzzese (-) 0:08 1-0
BU Trudel (-) 0:57 2-0
BU Lang (Trudel) 1:13 3-0
BU Hergenroeder 1:43 4-0
BU Nordhoff (Hergenroeder) 4:59 5-0
BU Hergenroeder (Abruzzese) 10:25 6-0
BU Nordhoff (Trudel) 10:43 7-0
BU Hergenroeder (Trudel) 19:04 8-0
BU Trudel (-) 19:43 9-0
Albany Rajczak (-) 20:34 9-1
BU Byrne (1) 31:24 10-1
Albany Heller (DiDomenico) 32:33 10-2
BU Nordhoff (-) 33:05 11-3
BU Trahon (-) 36:32 12-3
BU Cross (-) 38:35 13-3
BU Cross (Trudel) 42:55 14-3
Albany Ferrucci (Esposito) 44:06 14-4
BU Abruzzese (Nordhoff) 45:07 15-4
Albany Esposito (-) 45:44 15-5
BU Trudel (Nordhoff) 47:07 16-5
BU Cross (Abruzzese) 53:55 17-5
BU Cross (Juocys) 56:23 18-5
BU Lang (Abruzzese) 56:36 19-5