File Photo Courtesy of Mark Campbell

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. -- The University of Delaware women’s lacrosse team seeks its first Colonial Athletic Association Tournament title as the No. 2-seeded Blue Hens head to the College of William & Mary for the CAA Championships at Albert-Daly Field.

Delaware (9-7, 5-2) will take on the third seed and No. 18 ranked Old Dominion Monarchs (11-4, 5-2) in the second semifinal game at 7:30 following the No. 1 seed and host William & Mary’s 5:30 showdown with the reigning CAA champions, No. 4 seed Towson. The winners will meet in the finals Sunday at 1 p.m., with the winner earning an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.

This trip marks the third straight year and the fourth time in five years that the Blue Hens have appeared in the CAA Tournament under head coach Kim Ciarrocca. Delaware has yet to advance to the finals, however, and is looking for its first conference title since capturing the 1999 America East Conference tournament. UD last advanced to the NCAA Tournament during the 2000 season.

Delaware defeated Old Dominion at Rullo Stadium back on Apr. 3 in the conference opener. Freshman Stephanie Allen’s goal with two seconds remaining lifted the Blue Hens to a thrilling 9-8 victory over the Monarchs, who were coming off a 13-10 win over No. 9 Virginia just two days before. Just two days after her buzzer-beater goal to beat ODU, Allen scored six goals to lead Delaware to a convincing 15-11 win over William & Mary.

The one team in the tournament Delaware did not defeat was the No. 4 seed, Towson. The Tigers played the role of spoiler last week in the season finale at Rullo, defeating Delaware 10-6 and dashing the Blue Hens’ hopes of hosting its first ever CAA Tournament.

With the Delaware loss last Thursday afternoon, Old Dominion had the opportunity to host the tournament if they beat William & Mary at home. But the Tribe came in to Powhatan Sports Complex and dominated ODU, 20-10, and they earned the right to host instead.

Look for Delaware to win with defense, as the Blue Hens rank No. 1 in goals against average at 8.6 per game. Led by experienced senior midfield-defender Erin Zimmerman, true defender Ange Gaeta (at right) and one of the top goalkeepers in the CAA in senior Jessica Cerveny, the Delaware defense has held opponents to under 10 goals in 11 games this season and under five twice. They allowed a CAA season-low three goals against Drexel in a 7-3 win on Apr. 10.

Offensively, Delaware is led by junior attack Emily Schaknowski (29 points - 17 goals, 12 assists) and senior captain Deb Sloan (27 points - 20 goals, seven assists). Sloan, a four-year starter, has played through back pain for the majority of the season and still been an impact player for the Hens all season long.