April 21, 2008

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The Navy women's lacrosse team, competing in its first season of Division I lacrosse, will meet top-seeded American on Friday afternoon in the semifinals of the Patriot League Tournament, beginning at 1:00 pm at Jacob's Field on the campus of American University in Washington, D.C. The other semifinals pits Colgate against Lehigh with the two winners competing in the title game on Sunday.

"Our goal at the start of the year was to make the Patriot League Tournament," said Navy head coach Cindy Timchal. "Now that we have done that, we know that anything can happen and we want to take it a step further. The other three teams are very good squads and it is going to be a very exciting weekend. We are excited to be part of it."

The Mids enter Tuesday night's regular-season finale at Villanova (6:00 pm in Villanova, Pa.) with a 12-3 overall mark and winners of four games in a row. Navy finished tied for third with Lehigh in the Patriot League with a 4-2 record, but were given the fourth seed, as Lehigh won the head-to-hear meeting, 15-12 on April 5. American earned the No. 1 seed after beating Colgate on Saturday, 13-10. Both teams went 5-1 during the Patriot League regular season.

Navy defeated American, 13-12, on April 1 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium to hand the Eagles their only Patriot League loss of the year. The Mids jumped out to a 9-2 halftime lead in that contest, only to see American rally in the second half. The Eagles cut the lead to 13-12 with just under a minute left and had possession on their offensive end, before a turnover essentially ended the contest. Erin Rawlick and Meg Decker each scored four goals in the contest for Navy, while three players scored two goals each for American. The Eagles played virtually the entire second half without the services of leading scorer, Jackie Lane, who picked up two yellow cards, forcing her to sit out the final 26 minutes.

This is the first appearance in the Patriot League Tournament for the Midshipmen. With one more win, Navy can set the NCAA record for most wins by a first-year program, surpassing the 1996 North Carolina team, which won 12 games.

Colgate, the No. 2 seed, defeated Navy, 19-10, on March 22, in Hamilton, N.Y. The game was the first road contest for the Midshipmen.

The winner of the Patriot League Tournament will host the winner of the MAAC Tournament in the NCAA Tournament Play-In Game on May 3 or 4.

For ticket information to this weekend's tournament, visit www.patriotleague.com or www.aueagles.com.

# GO NAVY #