HEMPSTEAD, New York * Freshman midfielder Corrine Gandolfi scored a game-high five goals and tournament Most Outstanding Player senior attacker Becky Thorn added two goals and an assist as the Hofstra Women's Lacrosse team won its first-ever Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) title with a 15-13 victory over James Madison at James M. Shuart Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Hofstra, which was making its third straight appearance in the CAA Championship finals, improves to 12-6 with the win. Hofstra's strong late season surge saw them win five of their last six and 10 of their last 12 since a 2-4 start to the 2007 campaign. The Pride advance to the NCAA Championship for the second time in school history and the first since the 2001 squad won the America East title. Hofstra's senior class also became the winningest class in school history as they picked up their 45th win as a class today, besting the previous mark of 44 wins by the class of 2003. James Madison saw its modest two-game win streak come to an end as they fell to 13-5 this season.

Selections for the 2007 NCAA Division I Women's Lacrosse Championship will be announced tomorrow at 8:00 p.m. on ncaasports.com.

Hofstra used a half-closing 5-2 run to take a 12-7 lead at the break. The Pride led 7-3 early on following sophomore attacker Jen Bach's fourth goal of the season at the 15:51 mark. The Dukes would score twice in just under a two-minute span to get within 7-5 before Hofstra scored three straight to push its advantage up to five goals for the first time in the contest. Gandolfi, who scored the game-winner with eight seconds left in Friday's 10-9 semifinal win over Old Dominion, got Hofstra on the board 17 seconds into the contest and added three more goals in the opening stanza to lead all scorers.

Facing a huge deficit to begin the second stanza, the defending champion Dukes scored three straight to open the half and six of the first seven goals in the second half to eventually knot the score at 13 with 11:45 remaining.

Kelly Berger scored her second goal of the second half and her fourth of the game with just under 12 minutes left to tie the score for the first time since it was 3-3 after JMU's Emily Haller found the back of the net with 23:32 left in the first half.

It didn't take long for the Pride to respond, though, as Thorn won the next draw control after picking up the loose ball about 30 yards from the goal and took it the rest of the way before depositing it past James Madison goalie Kelly Wetzel with 11:36 on the clock.

Senior attacker Kimberly Hillier, who scored two goals and added an assist in the game, added an insurance goal for the Pride with 2:17 left to account for the final margin.

Joining Thorn on the all-tournament team for Hofstra was Hillier, Gandolfi and sophomore defender Alysse Ruszkowski. Ruszkowski chipped in with a team-high three ground balls and added a caused turnover and a draw control in the contest. Hillier led Hofstra with three draw controls, while junior goalie Maisie Osteen stopped eight shots in net, including six in the second half.

Annie Wagner added three goals, three draw controls and two caused turnovers for the Dukes, while Natasha Fuchs had two goals, four assists and five draw controls.

Hillier moved within two of the all-time assist mark today as she now has 80 in her stellar career, just two behind Kathleen McPike, who tallied 82 helpers from 1998-2001. With Hillier picking up three draw controls in the game today, she is now tied with Thorn for the top spot in the Hofstra record books with 143 in their respective careers.

Score by Period       1  2  Tot
-------------------------------
James Madison.......  7  6 - 13
Hofstra............. 12  3 - 15
 
Attendance: 323
 
James Madison SCORING:
GOALS: Berger, Kelly 4; Wagner, Annie 3; Fuchs, Natasha 2;
       Haller, Emily 2; Stone, Julie 1; Cronin, Lynlea 1.
ASSISTS: Fuchs, Natasha 4.
 
Hofstra SCORING:
GOALS: Gandolfi, Corrine 5; Thorn, Becky 2; Hillier, Kimberly 2;
       Whitcomb, Lauren 2; McGrath, Casey 1; Vanaman, K'Leigh 1;
       Jones, Ashley 1; Bach, Jen 1.
ASSISTS: Hillier, Kimberly 1; McGrath, Casey 1; Thorn, Becky 1.
 
SHOTS BY PERIOD       1  2  Tot
-------------------------------
James Madison....... 14 16 - 30
Hofstra............. 18  6 - 24
 
GROUND BALLS BY PRD   1  2  Tot
-------------------------------
James Madison.......  3  7 - 10
Hofstra.............  3  7 - 10
 
DRAW CONTROLS BY PRD  1  2  Tot
-------------------------------
James Madison....... 10  6 - 16
Hofstra............. 10  4 - 14
 
CLEARS BY PERIOD       1     2     Total
----------------------------------------
James Madison.......  6-7   6-7  - 12-14
Hofstra.............  7-7   5-9  - 12-16
 
FREE-POSITION SHOTS    1     2     Total
----------------------------------------
James Madison.......  1-3   1-2  -  2-5
Hofstra.............  0-1   0-0  -  0-1
 
SAVES BY PERIOD       1  2  Tot
-------------------------------
James Madison.......  3  0 -  3
Hofstra.............  2  6 -  8
 
FOULS BY PERIOD       1  2  Tot
-------------------------------
James Madison....... 10  8 - 18
Hofstra............. 13 13 - 26
 
TURNOVERS BY PRD      1  2  Tot
-------------------------------
James Madison.......  5  5 - 10
Hofstra.............  5  7 - 12

2007-05-06