Championship paths crosse in Towson

BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Women’s lacrosse’s biggest stage is set for Towson’s Johnny Unitas Stadium on Friday and Sunday, as Penn, Northwestern, Syracuse and Duke will play in the NCAA Tournament’s Final Four.

And Syracuse coach Gary Gait, whose team will face three-time defending national champion Northwestern, can’t wait to get there.

“I’m excited about heading down to Towson,” he said. “I think it’s a great opportunity for us. If you win a championship, you have to beat the best. And they’re the best. We’ve seen them before, and hopefully we’ve learned a lot and we’ve made some adjustments. Hopefully, we’ve come a long way since then and we can improve and be ready to play.”

The fifth-seeded and Big East Champion Orange (18-2) will play the top-seeded Wildcats (19-1) on Friday evening at 6. Syracuse is led by junior attacker Katie Rowan, who has 73 goals and an NCAA-record 69 assists this season. In the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, Rowan set a tournament record with 13 points and eight assists in a 21-9 victory over Towson.

Northwestern, which beat Syracuse 19-7 on March 24, is led by National Player of the Year candidate Hannah Nielsen, who  has 44 goals and 56 assists this season.

The other national semifinal is at 8:30 between second-seeded Penn (16-1) and unseeded Duke (13-7). Penn, which was the only team to beat Northwestern this season, squeaked by Boston University, 8-5, to reach the Final Four for the second consecutive season. The Quakers are led by standout senior goalie Sarah Waxman, who has a .515 save percentage and a 5.97 goals-against average.

Duke, which upset seventh-seeded Georgetown and third-seeded Maryland on the road to make the Final Four, punched their return ticket to the Free State by upending the Terrapins, 9-7 last weekend.

The Blue Devils, coached by former Terrapin standout Kerstin Kimel, are making their fourth straight appearance in the Final Four. Duke is led by junior midfielder Carolyn Davis, who has 55 goals and 15 assists.

Both semifinals are scheduled to be broadcast on CBS College Sports, with the Championship game set for Sunday evening at 7.

“I think the first year everything was a surprise,” Penn coach Karin Bower said. “Not having to play Northwestern in the semis is very nice. We have beaten them this year, but its tough to beat a team two times in a row. This year we really believed we could get back here. We are just excited and ready to be there.”

dcarey@baltimoreexaminer.com

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