Box score
GENEVA, NY – The Union College women's lacrosse team won the 2006 Liberty League Championship with an 8-6 victory over Hamilton College Saturday at McCooey Field on the campus of William Smith College. The Dutchwomen, who also won the 2005 title, will head to the NCAA tournament for the second straight year and fourth time in the program's history.
The Dutchwomen (12-4), trailing 2-0, broke open a 4-4 halftime tie in the second half to post the victory. Senior goalkeeper
Rachel Beckman (Needham, MA/Needham), made nine saves, including two big back-to-back stops in the final minutes to preserve the victory.
Stephanie Cronan (Marblehead, MA/Marblehead) and
Alexandra Toney (Bayville, NY/Locust Valley) had two goals and an assist each, while the Dutchwomen had single scores from senior
Robyn Ross (Newton, MA/Newton North), Erin Lawson (Flourtown, PA/Springside), Keri Messa (Saratoga Springs, NY/Hotchkiss School) and
Caitlin Cuozzo (Norfolk, MA/King Phillip).
Hamilton (12-5) outshot Union, 22-20, and had a 35-30 ground ball advantage, but the Continentals failed on nine of 23 clears, while Union won 10 of the 16 draw controls.
The Continentals took a 2-0 lead on goals by Liz Longley just 38 seconds into the game, and Inga Stots 2:50 into the contest. Lawson put Union on the board at 6:17 on a feed from Toney from behind the net, giving her 23 goals on the year. Messa tied it at 10:58 with a nice shot from close range in front for her 22nd score of the season. Hamilton regained the lead at 13:08 on a Kaillie Briscoe unassisted tally, and Jen McGowan's free position goal at 21:57 once again put the Continentals up by two (4-2).
But exactly three minutes later, Ross notched her 17th of 2006 on a free position shot, and Cronan tied it at 4-4 with only 3:02 left in the first half. Cronan's 32nd of the year was a backhander in front of Kalley Greer after turning from behind the left post.
Union took the lead for the first time on the day on a Cuozzo score at 40:13, her 25th. Brisco knotted it up again 1:27 later on Briscoe's second of the day. But Toney deked through a crowd in front at 44:28 for an unassisted score to make it 6-5 Dutchwomen. Cronan added insurance at 53:07 on an open break-in, and Toney gave Union an 8-5 lead with a free position score with 1:07 left, her 44th of the year. Liz Longley closed out the scoring for Hamilton with an unassisted score with 19 seconds remaining.
Greer made six saves for Hamilton. With the score 7-5 Union, Beckman made two point-blank saves on Suzy Belmont (with 2:34 left in the second half) and on Briscoe (with 2:27 remaining).
The NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse field will be announced Monday morning. Union's post-season games will be broadcast live on WRUC-FM 89.7 and on the web at:
http://wruc.union.edu.
