COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Senior Tewaaraton finalist Alex Aust led top-seeded Maryland to a 14-9 victory over Duke in the quarterfinals of the 2013 NCAA Women’s Lacrosse Championship Saturday.

With the win, the Terps (21-0) punched their ticket to a fifth-straight national semifinal and will face Syracuse Friday at Villanova Stadium. Aust recorded five goals and added two assists. The Sterling, Va., native also moved into third all-time in points (119) in single season history at Maryland.

After being stymied in the beginning of the Stony Brook match in the second round, the Terps wasted no time getting their attack rolling against the Blue Devils, notching the first two tallies of the game in the first seven minutes of play. Brooke Griffin and Halle Majorana put Maryland up with a pair of unassisted scores before Duke landed on the scoreboard with a goal at 20:25.

A pair of goals at 19:13 and 14:52 by Aust and fellow attacker Kristen Lamon extended the Terrapin lead to 4-1 before the two teams exchanged goals twice for a 6-3 score with five minutes remaining. The Terps would outscore Duke 2-1 down the stretch in the first half to carry a solid 8-4 cushion into the break.

Maryland preserved that momentum early in the second half, adding on to its four-goal lead with three early tallies in the stanza. Aust played a hand in all three, scoring goals at 26:30 and 22:44 and assisting on a Katie Schwarzmann score in-between.

Duke posted its first goal of the period with a Maddy Morissey score at 21:55 but Maryland compiled a devastating 3-0 run in-and-around the 17-minute mark – courtesy of goals from Schwarzmann, Griffin and Beth Glaros - to mount a 14-5 advantage with 15 minutes to play.

Duke turned up the heat with four goals in the final seven minutes of play, but Maryland would hold on for the 14-9 win, the last for eight Terrapin seniors at the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex.

Maryland benefited from a balanced attack with seven goal-scorers on the day. Griffin added three goals and two assists and Schwarzmann tallied a pair of scores to aid the attack.

Defensively, senior Kasey Howard recorded seven saves in the cage. Aust, Schwarzmann and Cummings combined for 10 ground balls. Cummings and fellow freshman Alice Mercer led the way with two caused turnovers each.

“Congratulations to Duke. It was a fun game, a hard-fought game and I don’t think you’d expect anything less when you get a Maryland-Duke rivalry,” head coach Cathy Reese said. “For us, we are thrilled to be in the position we are in. We’re excited and looking forward to being one of the final four teams standing and heading to the final four next week.”

Maryland – which is headed to its nation-leading 21st final four – will play fourth-seeded Syracuse next Friday in the national semifinals at Villanova Stadium in Villanova, Pa.

Midfielder Tom Schreiber led Princeton in scoring for a third consecutive season, tallying a team-best 32 assists and 60 points. A junior from East Meadow, N.Y., Schreiber earned his third first-team All-Ivy League selection and recorded at least three points in every contest this season, ranking second and third in the Ivy League in assists (2.13) and points (4.00) per game, respectively.

The first Native American to be named a Tewaaraton Award finalist, Albany sophomore midfielder Lyle Thompson leads the nation in points (108) and assists (62) per game. A member of the Onondaga Nation, he was named America East Player of the Year, first-team All-America East and the America East Tournament Most Outstanding Player. Thompson’s 108 points this season rank third in NCAA men’s Division I history, trailing all-time leader Steve Marohl (1992) by six points.

Brief bios of the women’s finalists:

A senior attacker from Sterling, Va., Maryland’s Alex Aust has recorded a team-high 60 goals and 48 assists this season. Her 108 points and 5.68 points per game both rank second nationally. Aust earned her second All-ACC selection and was named to the ACC All-Tournament Team en route to leading the undefeated Terrapins to the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Versatile midfielder Kara Cannizzarro led North Carolina in goals (45), points (60) and caused turnovers (25), while ranking second on the team in groundballs (28) during the regular season. A senior midfielder from Cazenovia, N.Y., Cannizzaro earned her second All-ACC selection and was named to the ACC All- Tournament Team.

Syracuse junior Alyssa Murray ranks among the nation’s Top 10 in goals (56), points (90) and points per game (4.74). Murray, an attacker from West Babylon, N.Y., earned Big East Attack Player of the Year honors, was a unanimous selection to the All-Big East First Team and was a Big East All-Tournament team selection. She currently sits in the Orange’s top five in career goals, assists and points.

Mikey Meagher, the ALC Goalie of the Year, leads a Florida defense that ranks second in the nation, allowing just 6.58 goals per game. Her 6.61 goals against average is second-best nationally, and she ranks fifth in save percentage. A senior from Liverpool, N.Y., Meagher has registered 104 saves on the season and has posted a record of 47-8 in her four years as a Gator.

The reigning Tewaaraton Award winner, Maryland’s Katie Schwarzmann earned her second straight ACC Offensive Player of the Year and ACC Tournament Most Outstanding Player honors this year. A four- time All-ACC performer, the senior from Sykesville, Md., enters the postseason with 74 points (51 goals, 23 assists), ranking second on the Terrapins. Schwarzmann, a member of the 2013 U.S. Women’s National Team, also has tallied a team-leading 33 groundballs and 16 caused turnovers.

Media credentials are available for the Tewaaraton Award Ceremony in the News and Press section of www.tewaaraton.com. Credential requests are due by Tuesday, May 28.

For more information on the Tewaaraton Award or to attend the ceremony, visit www.tewaaraton.com. Like and follow The Tewaaraton Foundation at www.facebook.com/tewaaraton and www.twitter.com/tewaaraton, respectively.

About The Tewaaraton Foundation

First presented in 2001, the Tewaaraton Award is recognized as the preeminent lacrosse award, annually honoring the top male and female college lacrosse player in the United States. Endorsed by the Mohawk Nation Council of Elders and US Lacrosse, the Tewaaraton Award symbolizes lacrosse’s centuries-old roots in Native American heritage. The Tewaaraton Foundation ensures the integrity and advances the mission of this award. Each year, the Tewaaraton Award celebrates one of the six tribal nations of the Iroquois Confederacy – the Mohawk, Cayuga, Oneida, Onondaga, Seneca and Tuscarora – and presents

scholarships to two students of Iroquois descent. To learn more about The Tewaaraton Foundation, visit www.tewaaraton.com.

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - No. 1 Maryland topped North Carolina 12-8 to capture its fifth straight Atlantic Coast Conference Women’s Lacrosse Championship Sunday at Fetzer Field.

The Terps (19-0) were led by hat tricks from Brooke Griffin, Beth Glaros and Taylor Cummings. Katie Schwarzmann - who was named ACC Championship Most Valuable Player for the second straight season – tied a championship game record with four assists against the Tar Heels (14-3).

A tightly-contested first half began with both teams feeling out the wet conditions at Fetzer. It would be Maryland who would strike first with a Griffin goal at 27:00. North Carolina answered exactly three minutes later with a tally from Abbey Friend. Maryland’s rookie tandem put the Terps back on top with a Cummings goal from Halle Majorana at 17:47.

UNC’s Brittany Coppa and Kara Cannizzaro gave the Heels their first lead of the game with scores at 16:39 and 10:38 but Maryland surged ahead with three unanswered goals to cap the half with a 5-3 advantage at the break.

Kasey Howard led a solid defensive stand in the first half, tallying seven saves in the first 30 minutes alone.

The Terps kept that momentum rolling into the second, with three additional unanswered goals in the first five minutes of the stanza – including two from Griffin – for a decisive 8-3 advantage.

UNC finally stopped the scoring stretch with a goal from Emily Garrity at 24:11 but goals by Alex Aust, Griffin and Erin Collins extended the Maryland lead to 11-4. The Terps recorded six goals in the first 11 minutes of the period.

After a Cummings goal gave Maryland an eight-goal cushion with 14 minutes left, UNC recorded four straight to shrink the lead to five but the Terps held on for their 10th ACC tournament crown.

Maryland recorded a season-high 29 ground balls in arguably its best defensive performance of the year. Kelly McPartland, Iliana Sanza, Melissa Diepold and Cummings registered four apiece.

“I’m just so proud of this team and especially our senior class,” head coach Cathy Reese, who led Maryland to a fourth-straight win against Carolina in the title game, said. “We knew it was going to be a battle. You have two very talented teams playing against each other. I thought we played a great game defensively, probably the best we’ve played all season defensively. On offense, we were pretty smart with our decision making, especially in the second half, which allowed us to pull away with the win.”

In addition to Schwarzmann, Beth Glaros, Aust, Griffin, Cummings, and Howard were tabbed to the all-tournament team.

Maryland has next weekend off before it discovers its NCAA tournament destiny when the bracket is announced Sunday, May 5.

ACC Postgrad Scholarships Awarded to Three Terps
Blye, Francis and Schwarzmann named Weaver-James-Corrigan Award recipients

GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Atlantic Coast Conference has selected Owen Blye (Men’s Lacrosse), A.J. Francis (Football) and Katie Schwarzmann (Women’s Lacrosse) from the University of Maryland for the Weaver-James-Corrigan Postgraduate Scholarship Award for 2013.

ACC Commissioner John D. Swofford announced on Thursday the 36 student-athletes who have been honored with the award.

The Weaver-James-Corrigan scholarships are awarded to three student-athletes at each league institution. The awards are based on academic record, athletic versatility, interest in university and community life, and the athlete’s commitment to ideals and values in their professional lives. Recipients will receive $5,000 to contribute to their graduate education.

“This is a tremendous and very well-deserved honor for Katie, Owen and A.J.,” Kevin Anderson, University of Maryland director of athletics said. “These student-athletes are terrific leaders in the classroom and on the field and represent the very best at the University of Maryland.”

“The ACC Postgraduate Scholarship is an extremely prestigious award with a long history and we are very excited that Katie, AJ, and Owen were recently named as recipients,” said Associate Director of Athletics Chris Uchacz. “All three will be pursuing Master’s level work next year and are outstanding examples of the types of leaders the university is producing that will have an impact on the local, state and global communities. Congratulations to each of them!”

The award is named in honor of the late Jim Weaver and Bob James, as well as Gene Corrigan. All three are former ACC commissioners.

The recipients of this year’s award will be honored on April 17, 2013 at the Koury Convention Center in Greensboro, N.C.

- Terps -