Two Hamilton College first-year players combined to score eight goals, and the Continentals went on to a 13-6 win in the NCAA Division III women's lacrosse tournament championship game played at Roanoke College's Donald J. Kerr Stadium on May 18.
The national team title is the first for Hamilton in any sport. The College is a charter member of the New England Small College Athletic Conference, and the conference did not permit its institutions to participate in NCAA "team" tournaments until the 1993-94 academic year.
The Continentals (21-1 overall) entered the weekend as the No. 4-ranked team in Division III, but knocked off No. 1 Salisbury University 11-10 on Saturday before they defeated the defending champion and third-ranked Diplomats. Hamilton also avenged a 14-13 loss to Franklin & Marshall suffered in Florida on March 19. The loss was the lone blemish on the Continentals' 2008 record.
"We are just so excited about winning this national championship," sixth-year head coach Patty Kloidt said. "I'm so proud of my kids and all of the alumni that we have graduated the past few years in terms of building this program to what it is today. They have left a lot of legacy with this team that we currently have and we are building upon that."
Tournament Most Outstanding Player Sarah Bray '11 scored a career-high five goals and added an assist to lead Hamilton, despite not entering the game until nearly 10 minutes had elapsed in the first half. Bray also claimed two draw controls.
"It feels great," Bray said about her performance. "I just played my heart out. This team brings the best out of every player. I give these girls and our coach so much credit."
Anne Graveley '11 chipped in three goals -- all in the second half. Kaillie Briscoe '09 recorded two goals and two assists. Briscoe finished the season with 66 goals and tied her own team record with 41 assists. Her 107 points is a program single-season record. She also picked up three ground balls and caused a team-high three turnovers.
Nicole Tetreault '08 ended her brilliant career with one goal, one assist and two draw controls. Tetreault scored 138 goals and assisted on 44 others in three years. She missed her sophomore year due to injury.
Kate Fowler '10 made six saves and caused one turnover. Fowler set a team record for wins by a goalie in one season with 20. Fowler finished the season with a 6.57 goals against average and a .465 save percentage.
Jen McGowan '08 scored her 42nd goal this year and tied Briscoe for the team lead with three ground balls. Hilary Saverin '10 notched her 20th goal and caused two turnovers. Catie Gibbons '09 helped lead the defense with two ground balls and two caused turnovers. Liz Rave '10 won two draws. Tetreault, McGowan, Graveley and Kate Marek '09 joined Bray on the all-tournament team.
Sarah Meisenberg tallied two goals and one assist for the Diplomats (19-2). Meisenberg was the only Franklin & Marshall player with more than one point. She also picked up five ground balls and caused three turnovers. Lidia Sanza made six of her eight saves in the first half. Jen Pritchard scored one goal and won four draws.
Briscoe gave the Continentals a 1-0 lead 3 minutes, 26 seconds into the first half when she drove from right to left in front of the goal and fired a high shot into the back of the net. Bray subbed in for Briscoe with 20:01 left in the half when Briscoe received a yellow card and had to leave the game for three minutes. Bray went to work right away as she scored on a free-position shot for a 2-0 lead with 18:43 remaining.
The Diplomats responded with two goals within 65 seconds for a 2-2 tie with 16:22 left. Hamilton answered with a 6-0 run and never trailed again. Bray figured in four of the six goals during the deciding run. McGowan ended the rally with a drive down the middle of the arc from the point and her shot beat the goalie low and to the right with 1:48 remaining. The Continentals led 8-2 at the break.
Franklin & Marshall's previous largest deficit this season was five goals, but the Diplomats came out firing in the second half and cut their deficit to 8-4 with 22:13 left on a pair of free-position goals. Graveley restored the six-goal cushion with two goals on nice feeds from Briscoe and Tetreault.
Franklin & Marshall made the score 10-5 with 14:33 remaining. However, Bray slammed the door on the Diplomats with her fifth goal with 8:06 left. Bray took a pass from Briscoe in the center of the arc, drove to the goal and scored with a defender draped all over her.
Hamilton set program records with 21 wins and 19 straight victories this year. The Continentals held a 25-16 advantage in shots and committed 14 turnovers to Franklin & Marshall's 21. The Diplomats were just 9-for-18 on clears while Hamilton was nearly perfect at 19-for-20.
The Continentals were making their fourth appearance in the NCAA tournament (2000, 2001, 2007, 2008), and their second consecutive trip under Kloidt. Hamilton's tournament record is 7-3. This was the first time the team had advanced to the national semifinals.
Franklin & Marshall's 12-game win streak came to an end. The Diplomats were making their 11th appearance in the NCAA tournament, and their fourth trip to the national semifinals. Franklin & Marshall, which entered the weekend with an average of 16.57 goals per game, is now 11-10 in the national tournament.
The Old Dominion Athletic Conference contributed to this report.
