St. Mary's City, Md. – St. Mary's College of Maryland will be making its fifth appearance in the Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) Championship game as the second-seeded Seahawks doubled up on third-seeded University of Mary Washington, 20-10, in Tuesday's CAC Semifinal contest.

The 15th-ranked Seahawks (13-4) will face top-ranked and top-seeded Salisbury University (19-0) in the CAC title match at Salisbury on Friday night at 7:00. No. 20 Mary Washington has its season come to an end at 10-8. Salisbury eliminated fifth-seeded Villa Julie College, 23-7, in today's other semifinal game.

St. Mary's is 3-1 all-time in CAC Championship action, including being 1-1 when going against Salisbury. The Seahawks have won the CAC title three times – 1998, 1999, and 2002. The Sea Gulls are the five-time defending CAC Champions and have won the championship seven times overall.

Junior midfielder Lauren Carrier (Crownsville, Md./Old Mill) led the Seahawks to victory as Carrier notched a career-best nine points on five goals and a career-high four assists, while fellow classmates Allie Zerhusen (Cockeysville, Md./Park) and Emily Norris (Timonium, Md./Dulaney) each added four goals and two assists. Zerhusen matched a career-high with her six points.

Mary Washington took an early 2-1 lead at 23:04 as senior attacker Caitlin Erickson (Cypress, Texas) scored one and set up the other. However, the Seahawks used a 3-0 run to take over the lead at 4-2 with 21:23 left in the game.

St. Mary's never relinquished its lead as Erickson pulled the Eagles within 4-3 at 20:38 before SMCM went on a 6-0 to solidify its hold on the game. The Seahawks carried a 13-7 margin into halftime as UMW scored four of the half's last seven goals.

Mary Washington was held to three goals on 13 shots in the second half as freshman Ella Schoming (Westminster, Md./North Carroll) made all six of her saves in the final 30 minutes of the game. The Seahawks outscored UMW, 7-3, in the second stanza.

Along with her nine points, Carrier also had a game-high six draw controls, while freshman midfielder Aubrey Mirkin (Ashton, Md./Sherwood) scooped up a game-best seven ground balls and caused a pair of turnovers. Norris also had two caused turnovers.

The Seahawks won 21 of 32 draw controls and controlled 29 of 48 ground balls, while outshooting Mary Washington, 34-24.

The nation's leading scorer, Erickson contributed eight points on four goals and four assists, while freshman midfielder Katie Wallis (Cypress, Texas) added four goals. Defensively, senior midfielder Sarah Finney (Alpharetta, Ga.), who is ranked fifth in Division III in caused turnovers, recorded a game-high six caused turnovers and picked up three loose balls.

The Eagles' junior keeper Helena Polites (Berwyn, Pa.) made nine stops in the loss.

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The University of Mary Washington women's lacrosse team dropped a 20-10 decision at #15 St. Mary's College in the Capital Athletic Conference tournament semifinals on Tuesday afternoon. The Eagles close the season with a 10-8 record.

Senior Caitlin Erickson started the scoring for the Eagles, who led, 2-1, seven minutes into the game. But the Seahawks would score nine of the next ten goals and held a 13-7 halftime advantage.

The Eagles would be outscored, 7-3, in the second frame. Erickson scored four goals and four assists to lead Mary Washington. Erickson, the nation's leading scorer, closes her prolific career with 303 career points, the most in school history. Katie Wallis added four scores for UMW.

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2008-04-22