William and Mary Lax Defeats Cal-Berkeley, 16-10

Box Score

03/28/08 8:22PM

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - In a game where momentum was everything, the College of William and Mary’s women’s lacrosse team was able to capture more of it for longer in defeating the University of California-Berkeley, 16-10, this afternoon at Albert/Daly Field.

In an afternoon that saw the Tribe (4-6) dominate Cal (4-5) in nearly every statistical area, including draws (16-12), shots (41-26) and free position shots (15-4), there was no shortage of standouts for the squad. On the attacking end, senior midfielder and emerging All-American candidate Jaime Sellers (Kennebunk, Maine) and junior attacker Clare Dennis (Catonsville, Md.) had a hand in 11 of the team’s 16 scores, as each scored four goals, while Dennis handed out a pair of helpers and Sellers contributed one. When it came to the midfield, budding freshman phenom Grace Golden (Manhasset, N.Y.) was simply everywhere, as she also contributed four goals, had a team-high four caused turnovers and was tied for the team lead with fellow freshman Emma Starnes (Richmond, Va.) with four ground balls. Playing behind a solid de-fensive effort led by senior Ashley Bolton (Narbeth, Pa.), freshman net minder Emily Geary (Wayne, Pa.) had moments of sheer greatness in recording 10 saves in the win. The win also put a solid ending on a week of action for the College that started with the squad posting a 9-7 upset of No. 10 Stanford on Tuesday.

Playing in front of a spirited crowd that was enjoying a beautiful spring afternoon, the Tribe did not come out of the gates hitting on all cylinders. In fact, through the first five minutes of play, it seemed the Golden Bears were poised to take its second consecutive win in the series, as Cal jumped out to a 3-0 lead by scoring off a Tribe turnover on its first possession, then corralling the next two draws. Cal-Berkeley’s Danni Zuralov tallied the game’s first two goals and Alyse Kennedy capped the opening run by finishing a feed from Samantha Price at 27:07.

At this point, Tribe second-year head coach Christine Halfpenny called an early timeout and regrouped her charges. The three minutes were used wisely, as the remainder of the half was simply dominated by the College. Dennis started what would become an 8-1 run by turning a Cal turnover into a slick scoring run that she finished in the upper 90 (24:35). The Bears claimed the next draw and turned it into an excellent scoring chance, but Geary was up to the challenge and cradled the attempt and triggered the transition attack. Dennis eventually claimed the ball in the attacking third and used her speed to draw her defender wide of the crease, while Golden cut to the open space created in front of the net and hammered home the ensuing feed from Dennis to put the score at 3-2 with 23:38 remaining. From here, Sellers quickly evened the contest, as she won the next draw, carried the ball straight to the cage, drew a foul and finished the free posi-tion opportunity in the back of the net less than 15 seconds later (23:19). Freshman attacker Ashley Holofcener (Reister-stown, Md.) came away with the next draw, found Sellers, who immediately attacked the crease and again earned, and finished, a free position attempt to put the Tribe up 4-3 at the 22:30 mark.

At this juncture, it was the Golden Bear’s turn to take a timeout and, temporarily, it stemmed the onslaught, as the two team’s traded possessions over the next four minutes. But, once again, the Tribe was able to take advantage of a Cal miscue, this time a failed clear attempt, and convert it into a scoring chance. On this occasion, it was Dennis who re-ceived the ball between the circles and blazed to the cage, finishing with another laser in the high right-hand corner, giv-ing W&M a 5-3 lead. The next seven minutes featured more back and fourth, as both Geary and Cal keeper Allie Shrop-shire denied a pair of solid scoring chances. But, eventually, the Golden Bears pieced together a transition attack that ended with Zuralow dropping a perfect pass to Chapin Jackson, which Jackson pushed into the net and tightened the game to 5-4 at 11:30. With both team’s sensing the crucial momentum was know hanging in the balance, William and Mary freshman Maggie Anderson (Richmond, Va.) scraped out the following draw after a long melee and keyed one of the team’s slickest scoring combinations of the season. Anderson started it by carrying the ball wide right of the net, be-fore feeding Holofcener just to the right of the cage, who in turn slid a perfect dart to the opposite side of the crease, which sophomore Mary Zulty (Jarrettsville, Md.) deposited into the open netting. The scintillating score put a charge in the College, as it took advantage of a Cal turnover minutes later and put the transition attack in motion once again. Golden advanced through the midfield, attacked the cage, then put a perfect helper on Anderson’s stick that immediately was sent to twine, posting the Tribe to a solid 7-4 advantage (10:14).

The final minutes of the first half saw heavy action in front of both cages, but it was Dennis was the only one able to solve the keepers, as she struck once again with a smooth scoring run through the right side, putting the score at 8-4 with just over two minutes remaining, which finished the scoring for the half.

Geary was tested early in the second half, as she denied and controlled a hot shot at the knees and once again keyed the Tribe transition, which helped the team successfully clear 17 of its 18 attempts on the game. Once again, Dennis was on the spot for the Tribe, as she found Anderson on the way to net and fed in a perfect pass. Anderson neatly finished and bulged the team’s lead to 9-4 (25:36). The team’s quickly traded goals and the College seemed in complete control when sophomore Katie Rees (Catonsville, Md.) scored with 23:57 remaining and put the score at 10-5. But the Bears had other ideas, as it pieced together three lightening strikes just under two minutes apart starting with a bullet from Beth Jahp at 15:51 and ending with an unassisted success from Tickner at 13:53.

With her once comfortable led reduced to just two, Halfpenny called a timeout and brought the squad together. And, once again, the team responded to her words, as the College immediately strung together its own rally, turning out a four-goal spurt in just under three minutes. Sellers and Golden accounted for all four tallies in the run, as they each traded off on a pair of goals, started by Sellers at 12:54 and ended by Golden at 11:11. With the lead stretched out to 14-8, the Col-lege played Cal even over the remainder of the half, trading goals and coasting to the 16-10 final.

For Sellers, the afternoon marked her 10th-straight game with three, or more, goals and pushed her total to 41 on the sea-son. She came into the week as one of the nation’s leading scorers (ranked third in goals per game) and led the Colonial Athletic Association in both goals and points. Geary has now recorded 10, or more, saves in each of her last four out-ings.

The game marked the end of what was a brutal non-conference schedule for the Tribe, as the team will now finish the year with seven-straight league contests, starting next Friday afternoon at James Madison.