Box Score YORK, PA – The York College women's lacrosse team used a hard-fought 10-8 win over Christopher Newport University to earn a berth in the 2017 Capital Athletic Conference championship game on a rainy Saturday afternoon in York. The Spartans, who are the top seed in the tournament for the first time in school history, will host second seeded Salisbury University Sea Gulls next Saturday for the Capital Athletic Conference championship.
The Spartans head into the conference tournament game on a school-record ten game win streak.
Records:
#5 York (Pa.): 14-2 (CAC #1 Seed)
Christopher Newport: 11-8 (CAC #4 Seed)
Game Statistics:
Shots: York 21 / CNU 18
Shots on Goal: York 17 / CNU 13
Ground Balls: York 11 / CNU 4
Draw Controls: York 6 / CNU 14
Free Position Shots: York 1-for-3 / CNU 1-for-3
Saves: York 5 / CNU 7
Turnovers: York 4 / CNU 9
Caused Turnovers: York 9 / CNU 3
Clears: York 13-for-13 / CNU 7-for-8
Spartan Leaders:
Meghan Fox: 3 goals, 1 assist, 1 ground ball, 1 draw control
Skye Slater: 2 goals, 1 ground ball, 1 caused turnover
Rachel Saks: 1 goal, 1 assist
Katelyn Cattrano: 1 goal, 1 assist
Claudia DiVenti: 3 draw controls
Nicole Clauter: 2 ground balls, 1 draw control
Caitlin Rankin: 1 goal, 1 ground ball, 1 draw control, 1 caused turnover
Captain Leaders:
Catie Chess: 4 goals, 4 draw controls
Meaghan Galvin: 2 goals, 2 draw controls
Sarah Culver: 2 goals, 2 assists
Carly Wilson: 1 assist
Katie Orrison: 4 draw controls
Goalie Comparison:
Charlotte Wright (YCP): 60:00 minutes, 8 goals against, 5 saves, 13 shots faced (Win, 14-2)
Kaitlyn Ready (CNU): 60:00 minutes, 10 goals against, 7 saves, 17 shots faced (Loss, 9-5)
How It Happened:
• The Captains fired the opening salvo as Meaghan Galvin tallied an unassisted goal just under seven minutes into the game. The goal was Galvin's 45th of the year.
• The Spartans tied the game 50 seconds later as freshman Meghan Fox took a Katelyn Cattrano pass and deposited a shot into the back of the net, tying the game at one.
• The Captains got a free position shot just under two minutes later as Spartan goalie Charlotte Wright turned away Jordan Hayes, keeping the game tied at the 21:28 mark of the first half.
• The teams continued to exchange fruitless possessions over the next seven minutes of the game. York's Rachel Saks was awarded a free position shot at the 13:26 mark but the senior's shot hit squarely off the cross bar. Melissa Meehling scooped up the ground ball, keeping possession with York. That possession would eventually turn into a Caitlin Rankin free position goal with 12:44 left in the half.
• The Captains tied the game at two when they forced a turnover and converted the opportunity into a Catie Chess goal with 10:17 left in the opening half. The two teams would again trade goals over the next four minutes as Skye Slater scored for York and Culver notched a second tally for CNU.
• With the game tied at three with under five minutes left in the half, the Spartans got back-to-back goals from Saks and Meehling less than a minute apart to give the Green and White a 5-3 lead heading to the break.
• York made it three goals in a row 1:52 into the second half as Kayleigh Phillips scored an unassisted goal to give York a 6-3 lead.
• Culver ended York's run at three with a goal just 30 seconds later as they trimmed the York lead to 6-4. Chess scored 28 seconds later as the Captains drew to within one goal in a 1:12 span. The key for the Captains was winning consecutive draws which enabled them to score quickly.
• Culver was carded just over 30 seconds later and the Spartans would take advantage of the player up situation. Fox took a pass from Devin Hursey and tallied the man-up goal to put York up 7-5. Fox scored again 1:52 later as the Spartan lead grew to 8-5 with 23:08 remaining in the game.
• The Captains got another yellow card, this one on Catie Chess, and the Spartans again took advantage of the man up situation. This time Cattrano beat the Captain goalie Katilyn Ready for the 9-5 Spartan lead with 17:38 left on the clock.
• Galvin notched her second goal of the game to cut the Spartan lead to 9-7 midway through the second half. After a timeout, the Captains won the draw but Meehling forced a turnover and York went back on the attack. Slater eventually capped the possession with an unassisted goal, putting York up 10-7 with 13:34 left in regulation.
• York had a chance to go up 11-7 with 11:31 left but Ready made a save on a Fox free position attempt to keep the Captain deficit at three.
• The Captains would convert the save into a positive offensive possession as Chess scored her third goal of the game, cutting York's lead to 10-8 with 9:45 remaining.
• CNU captured the ensuing draw control but Chess's shot was saved by Wright and Nicole Clauter picked up the ground ball. The Spartans got a free position shot after a foul and Saks had her shot saved. York turned the Captains over on the clear and burned over four minutes off the clock. The Captains had their last chance inside of one minute but the Spartan defense stood tall, forcing a caused turnover and they was able to run out the clock for the CAC championship berth.
Game Notes:
The Spartans are now 6-0 all-time against the Captains and are now 2-0 when playing CNU in the tournament … the championship berth will be York's fifth CAC championship game as they are in search of their first tournament championship … York's foe in the championship game will be a familiar one as they have faced Salisbury in all four of their previous appearances and will again in the fifth appearance … York is now 8-11 all-time in the CAC tournament … York is now 5-3 in the CAC semifinals … York's ten game win streak is the longest in school history, besting the previous best of eight games in 2014 as that streak ran from March 29 to April 26 … senior Katelyn Cattrano set a new single-season record with her 28th assist of the season on Meghan Fox's goal with 22:30 left in the first half … Cattrano breaks Jayme Verman's school record of 27 assists set in 2015 … Christopher Newport won 10 of the 11 draws in the second half … York continues to take care of the ball as they committed just four turnovers in the game … the Spartans lead all of Division III in turnovers per game at just 9.6 miscues per game.
Up Next:
The Spartans will host the 2017 Capital Athletic Conference championship game on Saturday, April 29. The Spartans will see a familiar face as Salisbury University comes to town to decide the championship. Game time will be determined on Monday afternoon.
Meghan Fox photo courtesy of David Sinclair Photography
