April 26, 2009

2009 Patriot League Women's Lacrosse Championship Page

Hamilton, N.Y. - The No. 1 seed lived up to its billing in the Patriot League Women's Lacrosse Tournament, as the host Colgate Raiders claimed their second consecutive title with a 17-4 triumph over No. 3 Navy in the Championship game on Sunday at Tyler's Field.

The Raiders earn the Patriot League's automatic berth to the NCAA Women's Lacrosse Championship, with selections for the field next weekend and the first round set for May 10. The Raiders won a play-in game to make the field last season, but earn an automatic spot this year.

Colgate (14-4, 5-1 Patriot League) won its fourth title in the past six seasons, and fifth Patriot League crown overall, with a dominating performance in the Championship game. The Raiders scored 14 of the final 15 goals in the game and tied a Patriot League Tournament record with nine assists in the outing. Colgate set a Tournament record with 16 assists in their two games, including seven in a 15-11 win over Bucknell in the semfinals on Friday. The mark breaks the record of 12 that the Raiders set in winning last year's title.

Navy (13-5, 4-2 Patriot League) was solid early in its first Patriot League Championship appearance, taking a 1-0 lead on Mary Ruttum's goal less than five minutes into the contest. Colgate answered with three consecutive tallies, with Courtney Miller scoring the first and last goal of the stretch to give the Raiders a 3-1 lead with 20:42 to go. The defenses tightened up in the next 10 minutes, and Navy finally came through with two straight goals to tie the score at 3-3 with 9:43 left in the half.

Colgate took over from that point, scoring the final four goals of the first half to take a 7-3 lead at the break. Collen Bubnack scored twice during the four-goal stretch, including a goal with 13 seconds left in the half to take the four-goal lead at the break.

The Raiders continued to surge early in the second half, building a 10-3 lead with three goals in the first 10 minutes. Miller made it a 10-3 game with 19:51 to play in the contest.

Navy ended Colgate's seven-goal run with a score with 15:15 to play, but the Raiders continued to dominate down the stretch. Colgate scored the final seven goals of the game to keep building the lead and go on to the Patriot League Championship with the 17-4 victory.

Miller led Colgate with four goals in the game, while Bubnack claimed Patriot League Tournament Most Valuable Player honors by tallying three goals and two assists in the title contest. Meghan Lawler had two goals and two assists in the game, while Molly Carroll also tallied a pair of goals. Brie Moran had a goal and an assist in the contest, and tied a Patriot League Tournament record with five assists in the two games.

Colgate held a 34-14 advantage in shots, and a 25-13 edge in ground balls. The Raiders converted 5-of-7 free-position shots, and also turned it over just 13 times to Navy's 24.

Erin Rawlick had two goals and an assist for Navy, while Elaina Ponchione tallied 11 saves in net for the Mids. Navy advanced to the Patriot League Championship with a 12-11 win over Lehigh in the semifinals on Friday.

Bubnack recorded five goals, two assists, 10 ground balls and eight caused turnovers in the two games to claim Tournament MVP honors. She was joined on the All-Tournament team by four Colgate teammates: Maddie Kearns, Sara Drexler, Carroll and Lawler; three from Navy: Kristen Laraway, Rawlick and Ponchione; and two each from semifinalists Lehigh (Sara MacIntyre, Meagan Tenety) and Bucknell (Bonnie Buechel, Catherine Barry). Carroll was the MVP in last year's Tournament.

Colgate previously won the Patriot League Women's Lacrosse Tournament in 2004, 2005 and 2008, and also won the League title in 1999 before Tournament play started in 2001. The Raiders previously advanced to the NCAA Tournament after their League titles in 2004, 2005 and 2008. Colgate's five titles trail only Lafayette (10) in Patriot League history.

Colgate's nine Patriot League Tournament victories and nine Tournament appearances are both League records, as are the Raiders' four Tournament titles.

For more information, including box scores and recaps from each of the Tournament games, please visit the 2009 Patriot League Women's Lacrosse Championship page.

Patriot League Tournament MVP: Colleen Bubnack, Colgate

Patriot League All-Tournament Team
Colgate - Maddie Kearns, Sara Drexler, Molly Carroll, Meghan Lawler
Navy - Kristen Laraway, Erin Rawlick, Elaina Ponchione
Lehigh - Sara MacIntyre, Meagan Tenety
Bucknell - Bonnie Buechel, Catherine Barry