Courtesy: Boston University Athletic Communications
BOSTON - The
No. 6/8 Boston University women's lacrosse team sealed a fourth
straight trip to NCAA tournament on Saturday, posting a 15-3 victory
over Sacred Heart in an NCAA Play-In Game at Nickerson Field. Junior
Sarah Dalton had a seven-point afternoon, posting five goals and two
assists to help the Terriers match a program record with their 14th
straight victory while improving to 17-2 on the season.
Despite
shutting out the Pioneers in the first half, BU scored just five goals
before the break but took a 9-0 lead less than seven minutes into the
latter half. The Pioneers got on the board with 21:54 left in
regulation, but the Terriers reeled off three goals in a span of 97
seconds to take a commanding 12-1 advantage before securing the
victory.
Sophomore Traci Landy found the back of the net three
times and junior Steph Walker had a hand in three goals, scoring twice
in the early stages before adding an assist on the Terriers' first goal
of the second half. Freshman Rachel Collins also recorded a pair of
goals and an assist.
Freshman Molly Swain had the first
multi-point game of her career, tallying a goal and an assist, while
senior co-captain Lauren Morton and sophomore Jenny Taft each scored
one goal apiece. Sophomores McKinley Curro and Xan Weitzel were each
credited with one assist.
Sophomore Rachel Klein recorded
seven saves in goal for the Terriers, while sophomore goalkeeper
Chelsea Wagner made 15 stops for the Pioneers, who will finish their
season with a record of 12-8.
Freshman Jessica Ingrilli scored
two of Sacred Heart's three goals and posted game highs in both ground
balls (7) and caused turnovers (3). Dalton corralled a game-best five
draw controls, while Morton, sophomore Kara Hastings and freshman Katie
Nichols each had two caused turnovers.
BU outshot Sacred
Heart, 31-14, and held a slim 22-20 edge in ground balls. The Terriers
claimed 15 of the game's 20 draw controls and converted three of their
five free-position chances. The Pioneers came up empy on both of their
free-position tries.
The game was a match-up of the America
East Conference and Northeast Conference champions, as one of eight
automatic NCAA berths was on the line. BU will be making its sixth
appearance in the national tournament.
The 2008 NCAA
Championship bracket will be announced on Monday (May 5) exclusively on
CBS College Sports Tonight, airing on the CBS College Sports Network
between 7-8 p.m.