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DURHAM, N.C. -- The seventh-seeded Loyola Greyhounds knocked off the
second-ranked Duke Blue Devils, 7-6, to advance to the Final Four in the
women's lacrosse NCAA Tournament. Stacey Morlang scored one of two goals on
the day with 20 minutes left for the eventual game-winner. Duke mounted a
comeback over the last 17 minutes, but it was unable to bring the game even
due to outstanding play in the cage by Loyola goalie Tricia Dabrowski.
Loyola (15-4) opened up the scoring a minute and a half into the game when
Suzanne Eyler beat Duke goalie Kristen Foster (Ellicott City, Md.) to take
the early advantage. But Duke (15-4) quickly fought back as junior
midfielder Kate Kaiser (Cockeysville, Md.) evened the game at 1-1 at 24:31.
Senior attacker Claire Finn (Newton, Ma.) then snuck a shot past Dabrowski
to give Duke its first lead of the day. But in the see-saw battle that
would continue throughout the afternoon, Loyola responded with two goals of
its own when Megan Santacroce and Morlang each tallied a goal. Again, Duke
clawed back past the Greyhounds when Kelly Dirks (Annapolis, Md.) and Lauren
Kickham (Ellicott City, Md.) each scored to give Duke a slim 4-3 halftime
advantage.
But Loyola came out of the break looking to maintain possession, and four
consecutive goals within an 11 minute span gave the Greyhounds a commanding
7-4 advantage. Loyola won the draw control consistently, ending the day
with a 10-5 advantage in the category, and Duke was unable to muster any
offense without possession of the ball. Eyler, Krissy Warnock, Santacroce,
and Morlang each scored during the streak to bring the Loyola lead to three
goals.
The momentum again shifted in Duke's favor when Kaiser took advantage of a
free position shot to pull Duke back within two goals. Kickham then
substituted in to take her first draw of the game, and Duke once again
obtained possession. Two minutes later, sophomore attacker Lauren Gallagher
(West Chester, Pa.) also scored off of a free position shot to make the
score 7-6 in Loyola's favor.
The game seemed to be tied up at 8:35 mark when Kaiser raced through the
Greyhound defense and fired a shot past Dabrowski, but the sliding Kaiser
was called for a crease violation, and possession returned to Loyola for
much of the rest of the contest. When the Blue Devils did win the ball on
several occasions, the action in front of the Loyola net was heated, as both
teams were fighting intensely for a trip to the Final Four.
Duke did manage a good scoring opportunity by Gallagher with 1:15 remaining,
but Dabrowski was up to the challenge, making her seventh save on the day.
She then stalled the clock by roaming in and out of the crease to insure the
Greyhound victory. The Blue Devils fell to 14-1 when going into the
halftime break with the lead.
Loyola will face Georgetown, a 10-4 winner over North Carolina, in the
semifinals at Johns Hopkins University.
Tm Time Goal (Assist) LOYOLA DUKE
FIRST HALF
Loyola 28:36 Suzanne Eyler 1 0
Duke 24:31 Kate Kaiser 1 1
Duke 23:38 Claire Finn 1 2
Loyola 18:31 Megan Santacroce 2 2
Loyola 10:55 Stacey Morlang 3 2
Duke 6:00 Kelly Dirks (FPS) 3 3
Duke 5:39 Lauren Kickham 3 4
First Half Stats...
Shots: DU 11, LOY 10 Ground balls: DU 13, LOY 14 Saves: DU 3, LOY 4
Caused Turnovers: DU 9, LOY 7
FPS: DU 3, LOY 0 Turnovers: DU 8, LOY 7 Fouls: DU 5, LOY 6 Draw
Controls: DU 3, LOY 5
SECOND HALF
Loyola 28:48 Susanne Eyler 4 4
Loyola 24:19 Krissy Warnock (Lauren Peck) 5 4
Loyola 22:43 Megan Santacroce 6 4
Loyola 19:44 Stacey Morlang (Danielle Battersby) 7 4
Duke 16:28 Kate Kaiser (FPS) 7 5
Duke 14:32 Lauren Gallagher (FPS) 7 6
Loyola Scoring
Goals:
Morlang (2), Eyler (2), Santacroce (2), Warnock
Assists:
Peck, Battersby
DUKE Scoring
Goals:
Kaiser (2), Finn, Dirks, Kickham, Gallagher
Assists:
none
loyola STARTERS
Eyler, Cappello, Albright, Santacroce, Warnock, Morlang, Peck, Gioffrie,
Testrake, Battersby, Haggert, Dabrowski
DUKE STARTERS
Gallagher, Noble, Finn, Dirks, Rodgers, Kaiser, Sullivan, Walters, Soulier,
Miller,, Wick, Foster
SHOTS
DU - 14 LOY- 18
SAVES
DU - 4 LOY - 7
GROUND BALLS
DU - 25 LOY - 23
CAUSED TURNOVERS
DU - 16 LOY - 11
FREE POSITION SHOTS
LOY -
DU - Gallagher (1-3), Dirks (1-1), Kaiser (1-2)
DRAW CONTROLS
DU - 5 LOY - 10
FOULS
DU - 7 LOY - 13
TURNOVERS
DU - 11 LOY - 12
ATTENDANCE: 250
FINAL: Duke 6, Loyola 7
RECORDS: Duke 15-4 (2-1 ACC), Loyola 15-4
Loyola is seeded 7th and ranked eighth nationally while Duke seeded second
and ranked second nationally.
Loyola will play Georgetown in the NCAA Final Four on Friday, May 18, 2001.
