Boxscore

CAA Tournament Photo Gallery

File Photo Coutesy of Mark Campbell

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. -- The No. 2 seed University of Delaware women’s lacrosse team fell to No. 4 Towson, 8-7 in the Colonial Athletic Association Finals on Sat., May 2 at Albert-Daly Field on the campus of William & Mary.

Delaware finished the season 10-8 and advanced to its first ever CAA Tournament Final, but fell just one-goal short in the finals. Towson, who has now won its last seven games, became the first four seed to win both its semifinal and final games in CAA Tournament history.

“These are great kids,” said head coach Kim Ciarrocca. “They could have given up today, but they didn’t. I told them this game could have gone either way - we were right there. But this was a great season. Our kids could have packed it in a long time ago, but they decided they wanted to keep getting better, and they did. I’m very proud of them.”

The Blue Hens outshot Towson 24-22 and tied in the groundball battle at 19 apiece. Towson won 10 draw controls to Delaware’s seven and turned it over 11 times to Delaware’s 13.

Senior goalkeeper Jessica Cerveny stopped 11 shots in the loss. She, along with senior Erin Zimmerman and junior Emily Schaknowski were honored on the CAA All-Tournament team.

Delaware sophomore Holly Burman opened the scoring for the day. Delaware worked the ball around for a few minutes, and then Ali Libertini, from behind the net, found a cutting Burman who sent a shot past Towson goalie Mary Teeters for the opening goal at 26:09.

Steph Taylor answered for Towson with a free-position goal at 24:46 to tie the score, but All-Rookie Team member Steph Allen (at right) scored a free-position goal at 22:34 to grab the lead back for Delaware.

Nearly three-and-a-half minutes later, Taylor scored her second goal and began what amounted to a 4-0 Towson run over the next ten minutes of action. Meggie McNamara, the CAA’s leader in assists per game at 2.19 per game, assisted on the first two and four different Tigers scored goals.

After Katie Cloud’s goal at 9:13 with Towson leading 5-2, Delaware Head Coach Kim Ciarrocca called a timeout. Not long after the action re-started, Allen stopped the bleeding for the Hens with an unassisted goal at 7:33. Neither team would score for the remainder of the half, and Towson led 5-3 at the intermission.

The scoring drought continued for 15:41 into the second half before All-CAA Second Team selection Emily Schaknowski brought the Hens within one with an unassisted goal at 14:19. But Towson would go on a 3-0 run with goals by Woodfield, Taylor and McNamara to back up 8-4.

There was no quit in the Blue Hens though, as senior Erin Zimmerman intercepted a pass, led the charge down the field and passed to sophomore Corinne Drost who found Schaknowski in the middle of the field and Schaknowski ripped a shot past Teeters to bring the Hens within three, 8-5.

Not a minute later, sophomore Ali Libertini caused a turnover by Teeters behind the net, then wrapped around the net and snuck the ball past Teeters for another UD goal, shrinking the lead to 8-6.

Off another turnover, Libertini found a cutting Drost in front of the net, and Drost scoored to bring the Hens within one, 8-7 nearing the two-minute mark. On Delaware’s last possession, senior captain Deb Sloan ripped a shot from just outside the circle, but Teeters made the save and Towson ran out the clock.