Tribe Upsets 10th-Ranked Stanford, 9-7

Sellers and Holofcener Each Record Hat Trick

03/26/08 12:47AM

Wiliamsburg, Va. - Playing with a style that matched the crisp air of the early spring Williamsburg evening, William and Mary’s women’s lacrosse squad used 60 minutes of sharp team play to fashion a hard-fought, 9-7, upset win over 10th-ranked Stanford University on Tuesday night.

With each possession being critical, the College (3-6) was able to carry the day on the strength of its winning the battle in draws (11-7) and ground balls (20-16). But, even with all the extra possessions, the team only managed to out-shoot the Cardinal (6-4) by the slimmest of margins (30-29).

W&M rode the continued hot shooting of senior midfielder Jaime Sellers (Kennebunk, Maine) and some fancy net-minding by standout freshman keeper Emily Geary (Wayne, Pa.) to power the upset. Sellers posted her ninth-straight game with at least three goals, as she found the back of the net three times on the evening, including the game winner. Geary stood tall behind the strong play of the Tribe’s line-defenders when it mattered most, as she recorded 12 saves on the evening, including eight in the second half. Fellow freshmen, midfielder Grace Golden (Manhasset, N.Y.) and at-tacker Ashley Holofcener (Reisterstown, Md.), also turned in strong efforts. Golden was true to her name when it came to collecting draws, as she recorded a game-high five, and converting free position shots (two for two), while Holofcener tallied her third hat-trick of the season and added three ground balls in the win.

With the College looking to shake a six-game loosing skid that had seen it lose several tight contests to nationally ranked teams, the game had an ominous start when Stanford’s Daphne Patterson struck first at the 26:43 mark. But, the Tribe quickly collected itself and turned in what would be a brilliant 10 minutes of play, highlighted by a five-goal run that started with Sellers first of the contest at 24:47. The next Tribe goal was representative of the aggressive approach the team’s attackers had on the evening, as Holofcener drew and converted on a free position shoot just over a minute later (23:35). It was the first of five free position attempts the team would convert (out of 12 total chances) into points against the Cardinal. Golden and Holofcener accounted for the next two Tribe scores, at 20:39 and 19:50, respectively, before junior Clare Dennis (Catonsville, Md.) used her formidable speed to beat her defender on a cut through the right side of the crease and find the twine to end the spurt at 19:05.

The two team’s traded possessions, and scoring chances, over the next four minutes, before Stanford’s Claire Hubbard deposited a slick feed from Bess Siegfried to pull the Cardinal within three, 5-2, with 15:51 remaining in the opening stanza. The Tribe’s Golden responded just over a minute later, converting her second-straight free position at 14:10. Stanford tightened down and the two teams played scoreless for the next seven minutes, until the Cardinal’s attack scored on a pretty combination from Julie Christy to Dana Lindsay at 7:12. Sanford’s Charity Fluharty collected the en-suing draw and sprint down the heart of the field and deposit what had the feel of a game-turning goal just 11 seconds later, reducing the tenuous Tribe lead to 6-4. Junior attacker Julia Martin (Woodside, Calif.) came away with the critical possession on the following draw (one of two she corralled on the evening) and helped stem some of the growing Stan-ford momentum. Golden further frustrated the Cardinal comeback attempt, as she scooped a crucial ground ball off a Stanford miscue in the attack and keyed a fast-break that eventually led to a successful free position attempt converted by Holofcener with 2:06 remaining and eventually sent the two teams to the half with the Tribe leading 7-4.

The second half started much the same as the first, with Stanford’s Sarah Flynn using a helper from Dana Lindsay to inch her squad within a two, 7-5, at the 26:20 mark. But Sellers countered by using her speed and power to score consecutive tallies at 25:08 (free position) and 22:09 (unassisted) to stretch the College’s lead back out to 9-4. Despite two scores from Patterson, who ended the game with a team high three for Stanford, the Tribe probably played some of its best la-crosse of the season over the remainder of the contest. After Patterson’s final mark at 16:08, the Tribe held the Cardinal scoreless over the remainder of the contest, using strong stick skills and precision passing to run large portions of the second half clock in the attacking third. What play there was in the Tribe’s defensive end, was largely ended by the out-standing play of Geary. No play was larger than her stop of a point-blank missile in the final 2:30 of regulation. She de-flected the shot then came back seconds later to force a Cardinal follow attempt to miss just high and Sellers ended the drama, and game, by collecting the carom and allowing the team to run the final seconds off the clock.

Sellers is quickly emerging as a strong candidate for All-American honors, as she entered the evening as the Colonial Athletic Association’s (CAA) leader in both points (37) and goals (34) and was ranked in the top five in each category nationally. The contest stood as her sixth game this season with 10, or more, saves.

The next action for the College will come on Friday afternoon at 4:00 pm, when the team will host the University of California-Berkeley at Albert-Daly Field.

Box Score