Final countdown to Towson

BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Duke coach Kerstin Kimel has guided her team to four straight appearances in the semifinals of the NCAA Tournament, but this year’s trip is the most meaningful.

“The resiliency this group has show separates them from the other teams I have had,” she said. “It’s not so much the team itself, but players now having to assume very different roles than they have assumed in the past [because of graduation]. I think for us, watching our group grow and endure difficulties over the season has made this group and trip so special.”

The unseeded Blue Devils (13-7) play second-seeded Penn (16-1) in the Final Four on Friday at 8:30 p.m. for a berth in Sunday night’s championship game against three-time defending champion Northwestern (19-1) or fifth-seeded Syracuse (18-2).

Duke reached Towson by upsetting seventh-seeded Georgetown and second-seeded Maryland.

But Penn also knows about exceeding expectations.

The Quakers were unranked in many national polls to start last year, but made a surprise run to the Final Four. Penn, the Ivy League champion, is making its fourth appearance in the Final Four and seeking its first title.

“When I came here, the team had been losing pretty badly to the Princetons and the Dartmouths, and we had to get the kids who would want to come in and do the work,” Penn coach Karin Brower said. “We have to get kids who are self motivated to go out there and work on the things they needed to work on.”

The Quakers advanced to the Final Four by pounding Colgate, 16-7, before defeating Boston University, 8-5. Penn also dealt top-seeded Northwestern (19-1) its only loss of the season and just the third in the past four years with a 11-7 win during the regular season.

The Wildcats, however, have been dominant during the postseason, thrashing Notre Dame, 15-7, before drilling Princeton, 18-11. Northwestern, the American Lacrosse Conference champion, is led by National Player of the Year candidate Hannah Nielsen, who has 44 goals and 56 assists.

“For us, we ended the [regular] season with the last game on a low note in a loss to Penn,” Northwestern coach Kelly Amonte Hiller said. “I’m proud of how the girls have responded and self-evaluated, looked within and taken their game up a notch and executed extremely well in the opportunities we have had.”

The Wildcats will face Big East Champion and fifth-seeded Syracuse (18-2) on Friday night at 6. Northwestern pummeled Syracuse, 19-7, on March 24.

The Orange, under first-year coach and former Maryland assistant Gary Gait, is playing in its first Final Four after hammering Towson, 21-9, and getting past North Carolina, 13-11. Syracuse has perhaps the best player in the country in junior attacker Katie Rowan, who has 73 goals and an NCAA-record 69 assists this season.

“You just believe as long as you play well and work hard it’s going to go your way,” Gait said. “For us, we know we need to play our perfect game.”

dcarey@baltimoreexaminer.com

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