THE FACTS
No. 9 Gettysburg (18-4) 17, No. 10 York (Pa.) (18-4) 8
What: NCAA Div. III women's lacrosse quarterfinal game
When: Sunday, May 21
Where: Lexington, Va.
THE SKINNY STORY
It didn't take long for
Caroline Sullivan (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield Ludlowe) and
Jordan Basso (Rye, N.Y./Rye) to set the tone. The duo had a hand in the first four Gettysburg goals and the Bullets never looked back, scoring six straight to start the game and ran away from York (Pa.) in the quarterfinals, defeating the Spartans 17-8 to return to Salem and the national semifinals for the second straight season.
THE LEADERS
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Caroline Sullivan finished with six assists for the second time in the month of May and added a pair of goals for a career-high eight points.
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Jordan Basso scored five goals and added an assist for six points.
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Gillian Cortese (Mount Laurel, N.J./Lenape) backstopped the defense with a career-high 10 saves.
FOR THE FOES
• Kiersten Blanchard led the Spartans with three goals and four draw controls.
THE REST OF THE STORY
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Caroline Sullivan took a flip at the top of the fan from
Regan Rightmire (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown STEM Academy) and weaved through the center of the defense before finishing top shelf for a 1-0 lead just 2:32 into the game. With 10:07 on the clock, Sullivan lasered a pass to
Jordan Basso, who finished on the doorstep for a 2-0 advantage. Less than a minute later, Basso made it two goals and a 3-0 lead. Sullivan picked up a ground ball and raced down the field, hitting
Gabi Connor (Haddonfield, N.J./Haddonfield Memorial) in transition for a 4-0 lead with 7:41 showing and forcing a Spartan timeout. Free-position tallies from
Julia Daly (McLean, Va./Langley) and
Katie Fullowan (Lebanon, N.J./North Hunterdon) stretched the lead to six with 2:33 remaining. Kiersten Blanchard got York on the board with 15.9 seconds left in the period.
• Sullivan connected with Connor, who finished high just 65 seconds into the second quarter for a 7-1 lead. A Basso free-position tally completed her 13th hat trick of the season with 12:08 on the clock. After Zoe Kluegel found the back of the net with 11:28 showing, Sullivan found Connor for the third time to push the lead back to seven just over seven minutes later. Sydney Mentzer closed the deficit to six at the break, scoring 66 seconds before the break.
• Fullowan powered through the middle of the defense and finished for a 10-3 lead with 11:45 remaining in the third quarter. After Blanchard hit a free position with a player advantage,
Emily Crane (Upper Montclair, N.J./Montclair) hit an advantage goal of her own, finishing Sullivan's fifth helper of the afternoon. Sullivan finished another man-up free-position tally with 6:12 to play for a 12-4 advantage. A pair of Basso free-position goals with a player advantage 29 seconds apart got the game to running clock with 4:26 on the clock. Klugel and Blanchard each found the back of the net in the final 2:02 of the quarter to close the margin to eight.
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Julie Breedveld (Wayne, Pa./Radnor) got in the scoring column, finishing a pass from Sullivan with 9:15 showing and another from Basso 36 second later to re-establish the 10-goal margin on a pair of advantage goals. Anya Litofsky finished a Logan Ward pass to make it 16-7 with 7:07 to play. Daly connected with Fullowan on the break with 4:35 remaining before Gianna Huet set the final margin with 1:53 to play.
THE INSIDE STORY
• Gettysburg finished with a 20-9 advantage in draw controls.
Emily Crane led the way with a seven while
Lily Macatee (Street, Md./North Harford) pulled down six.
• The Bullets finished with a 32-21 advantage in shots.
• Gettysburg advances to the national semifinals for the ninth time in program history and return to Salem, Va., for the final weekend for the second straight year and fifth time overall.
NEXT UP
Gettysburg takes on the winner of the William Smith-Tufts game in Friday's second national semifinal at Kerr Stadium. Game time is 3 p.m.
