Juniors Kaitlyn Ripley (Stafford, Va., Stafford) and Morgan Jones (Williamsburg, Va., Walsingham Academy) each scored second half goals to propel the University of Mary Washington field hockey team to the 2010 Capital Athletic Conference Championship, 2-0, over Wesley College on Saturday at the Battleground. The Eagles, 14-7 overall, gain their first CAC title since 1993 - when they advanced all the way to the national championship game - and their fourth league crown overall.

Wesley gained the first opportunities in the game, collecting the first corner and the first three shots, but the Eagles settled in to take the next six shots and controlled play for much of the first half, although neither team scored in the opening 35 minutes. UMW led in shots, 7-3, and corners, 5-2 in the first half,

The second stanza saw Wesley step up the intensity and offensive chances, as the Wolverines had several early penalty corners as well as a penalty stroke which sailed wide to keep the game scoreless in the opening 10 minutes of the second frame. 

With 20:29 remaining in the game, Ripley scored off the keeper's pads to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead. Nine minutes later, Jones scored her 15th goal of the season on a stroke to up the lead to 2-0, and the Eagle defense held it up the rest of the way.

In total, Mary Washington held a 16-13 edge in shots, and had 11 penalty corners to 16 for Wesley. Senior goalkeeper Chrissy Bowdren (Fairfax Station, Va., Robinson) had an excellent day in goal, making nine saves in the shutout, while senior Kristen Haynor (Oakton, Va., James Madison) added a key defensive save in the second half. Wesley's Sarah Johnson had eight saves for the Wolverines.

Mary Washington will gain the CAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Championship, which begins on Wednesday. The selection show for the brackets can been seen live on Monday at www.ncaa.com starting at 9:00 a.m.