Towson Women's Lacrosse Captures Third Straight CAA Title
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Williamsburg, Va. (May 4, 2014) – Redshirt freshman Michelle Gildea scored with 35 seconds remaining in overtime as top-seeded Towson held on to defeat second-seeded James Madison, 12-11, en route to capturing the program’s third consecutive CAA Women’s Lacrosse Championship title.
It was Gildea’s first score of the championship, which was held at William & Mary’s Martin Family Stadium at Albert-Daly Field, while the win assured the Tigers a berth into the NCAA Tournament. 2014 CAA Co-Player of the Year Andi Raymond, a junior, notched a hat trick to go along with two assists, while freshman Colby Unkle provided TU’s first goal in OT to give her team some breathing room.
Six other Tigers found the net, including redshirt senior Ashleigh Rohrback supplying one goal and two assists and CAA Rookie of the Year Gabby Cha adding two goals and one assist in the win, the team’s sixth in the last seven meetings versus JMU. Towson improved to 11-7 overall and Raymond was named Tournament Most Outstanding Performer.
James Madison, appearing in the title contest for the fourth time in the last five years, battled relentlessly the entire game. The Dukes, though, never took the lead, tying the Tigers three times. Junior Stephanie Finley, the fellow CAA Co-Player of the Year honoree tallied three goals and won six draw controls, while redshirt senior Megan Piotrowicz also recorded a hat trick in defeat. Senior Amy Roguski scored twice and dished out three assists in her final game for the Dukes, who fell to 11-7 on the season.
The two teams met once during the regular season – exactly three weeks ago, on April 13 -- with the Tigers ironically earning a hard-fought, 12-11 win in double-overtime at home. Sunday’s game was the third CAA Championship that went to overtime, with the most-recent occurrence coming in 2004.
The Dukes and Tigers previously squared off in the league title game two times and in back-to-back fashion (2011 and 2012) with JMU earning an 8-6 win in the first meeting and Towson returning the favor with a 8-7 win in the second.
Towson advanced to the championship final for the fourth consecutive season after outlasting fourth-seeded Hofstra, 6-5, in the semifinals on Friday. JMU withstood a comeback from third-seeded Delaware in the second semifinal, holding on for a 13-9 victory.
The No. 2 seed had a shot for the win in regulation, re-gaining possession with just over one minute remaining thanks to a superb caused turnover from Finley. The Dukes held the ball for a final shot as time winded down, but an attempt from the top of the arc clanked off the crossbar and Towson grabbed the rebound to send the game to overtime.
In the early going of overtime, Towson wasted little time as Unkle received a nice feed from Rohrback for a score 36 seconds in. After the first three minutes of extra time concluded, JMU needed an answer in the next three-minute period and got it with 1:24 remaining.
Piotrowicz found herself all alone in front of the net with a feed from Roguski and sent home a low shot past TU goalkeeper Kelsea Donnelly. Towson obtained the following draw control and drove down the field quickly. Cha then corralled a quick-feed pass to Gildea, who one-timed the shot past JMU goalie Schylar Healy for the eventual game-winner.
JMU tied the game for the first time at 9-9 with 15:38 to play in the second half. Finley had two goals alone during the early 4-2 run. Cha put Towson back on top at the 10:13 mark, however, James Madison didn’t respond until Ali Curwin scored with 2:20 left.
In the first half, Towson jumped out to an early 5-0 lead – while Raymond already accomplished the hat trick -- and managed to hold its advantage for the stanza. Madison chipped away just enough, though, as the Dukes closed the gap to 7-5 at the break.
JMU’s Betsy Angel, fresh off a hat trick performance in Friday’s semifinal win over UD, put the Dukes on the scoreboard for the first time with a nifty falling away bounce shot to make it 5-1 at the 19:35 mark.
After a Tiger goal from Taylor Moore, the Tigers ended up going scoreless until the 8:27 mark as JMU tacked on three quick scores by three different players – Roguski, Finley and Taylor Gress -- to get within 6-4. Piotrowicz netted an easy tally with just nine seconds to spare to close the deficit to two at the break.
Healy finished with four ground balls and five saves in the setback, while Donnelly, who earned the lone goalkeeper spot on the All-Tournament team, recorded eight stops. Towson held a 14-13 advantage in draw controls, with Breanna Hamm and Katie Leech each grabbing four.
Sunday’s tilt was the 34th all-time between the two schools, but JMU still holds a 22-12 advantage all-time. The 2014 NCAA selection show can be seen live on NCAA.com at 9:00 p.m. on Sunday night.
All information regarding the 2014 CAA Women’s Lacrosse Championship can be found on the #CAAChamps Central Page -- including the official program, live statistics links, season stats, live broadcast information, event highlights and daily game recaps.
CAA WOMEN'S LACROSSE CHAMPIONSHIP
(Martin Family Stadium at Albert-Daly Field – Williamsburg, Va.)
May 2 - Semifinals
#1 Towson (@Towson_WLAX) 6, #4 Hofstra (@Hofstra_WLAX) 5
#2 James Madison (@JMULacrosse) 13, #3 Delaware (@DelawareWLax) 9
May 4 - Finals
#1 Towson (Towson_WLAX) 12, #2 James Madison (@JMULacrosse) 11 – F/OT
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Ali Curwin (James Madison)
Kelsea Donnelly (Towson)
Michelle Dufault (Towson)
Stephanie Finley (James Madison)
Kelsey Gregerson (Hofstra)
Shannon Hawley (Delaware)
April Iannetta (Hofstra)
Caitlin McCartney (Delaware)
Kelly Murkey (Towson)
Andi Raymond (Towson) (Most Outstanding Player)
Amy Roguski (James Madison)