Third ranked Gettysburg College used a strong start and a strong finish to upend fifth ranked Mary Washington, 16-5, in a regional semifinal of the NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse Tournament on Saturday in Gettysburg, Pa. The Eagles close their winningest season with a record of 17-5, while the Bullets advance to the regional final on Sunday.
The Bullets roared out to a 7-0 lead in the opening 19 minutes. After a scoreless opening five minutes, Courtney Patterson scored a pair of goals, sandwiched around a pair from Katie Willis, as the Bullets built a 4-0 cushion 13 minutes into the action. Scores from Kerry McKeever, Bri Stokes, and Lauren Cole upped the margin to 7-0 with 11:03 left, before senior All-America defender Kirsten Littlefield scored after a Bullet foul to put the Eagles on the board with 10:47 remaining on the clock.
Gettysburg answered with three straight goals to take a 10-1 lead, but the Eagles scored two to end the half and two more to start the second to cut the deficit to 10-5. Senior Holly Hudson started the run with an unassisted tally with 1:38 left, and Julia Albert followed with 15 second left. In the second, Hudson scored 28 seconds into play and Albert added another one minute later to trim the deficit to five.
But once again, the defending national champions responded, scoring the next five goals to take a 15-5 lead with 10:04 on the clock. Willis scored twice in the run. After several Eagle chances, the Bullets added another with 4:06 remaining to cap the scoring.
Gettysburg led in shots, 30-18, and in draw controls, 16-7. UMW goalkeeper Hanna Ashby had 10 saves for the Eagles, while Bailey Pilder had 11 stops for the Bullets.
Hudson led the Eagles with two goals and two assists, while Albert added two scores. Littlefield had three ground balls, four draw controls, and three caused turnovers.