HARRISONBURG, Va. - Led by four goals from senior midfielder Liz Falco, third-seeded Hofstra University (12-5) jumped out to a 7-2 half-time lead and held off a strong second-half comeback by the second-seeded and two-time defending CAA champion Tigers (13-4) to edge Towson by a 9-8 margin in a Colonial Athletic Association semi-final at the JMU Lacrosse Complex on Thursday evening.
With the win, the Pride advance to the CAA Championship Game on Saturday afternoon where they will face top-seeded James Madison University, which edged William & Mary by a 7-4 margin in the first semi-final.
"We came back really well in the second half but our shots just weren't falling," Towson Coach Missy Doherty said. "We had better opportunities to go to the goal in the second half. However, if you want to win these types of games, you have to put your shots away and we didn't do that tonight."
Led by two goals from Falco, the Pride jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the opening 11 minutes of the first half. With 16:55 remaining in the first half, the Tigers ended the run when junior attacker Jess Dunn scored an unassisted goal.
Just 42 seconds later, senior attacker Jacie Kendall cut the margin to 3-2 when she scored on a free-position goal past senior goalkeeper Mary Cuddihy.
But, the Pride answered by scoring four straight goals in the final 11 minutes of the first half to take a 7-2 lead into the intermission. Falco scored two goals during the spurt, including a goal with two seconds remaining in the period.
After the teams traded goals to start the second half, the Tigers erased their five-goal deficit by scoring five consecutive goals to tie the game at 8-8 with 14:12 remaining in regulation. Kendall and senior midfielder Nikki Marcinik each scored two goals during the run.
With 13:11 left, the Pride took a 9-8 lead when freshman Jill Maier scored off a feed from freshman Claire Brady.
Despite several attempts by the Tigers to tie the score, the Pride held off the comeback bid to earn the victory.
Falco led the Pride with four goals while senior midfielder Corrine Gandolfi added a goal with three assists.
Kendall scored four goals in a losing effort for the Tigers while Marcinik added a pair of markers. Sophomore goalkeeper Mary Teeters made 12 saves for Towson, which had its six-game win streak snapped.
"Mary gave us a chance to win tonight," Coach Doherty said. "A save is a huge momentum builder and Mary did what she could to help us tonight. We had a chance to win and this time, it didn't fall our way."
In addition, senior midfielder Hillary Fratzke was held without a goal for the first time in nearly four years, snapping a 64-game goal-scoring streak. It is the second-longest goal-scoring streak in NCAA Division I history.
The 2010 CAA Player of the Year, she was also held without a point for the first time in her career, a streak of 70 games. It was the longest active streak in the nation.
The Tigers will hope to receive an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament when the 16-team field is announced on Sunday night at 10 p.m. on CBS College Sports Network.
"We have had a great season so far," Coach Doherty said. "We have played some top-notch teams and played very well against them. We are looking for our season to hopefully continue into the NCAA Tournament."
CAA Women's Lacrosse Semi-Finals: #16 Hofstra University 9, #8 Towson University 8
Hofstra (12-5) 7-2 / 9
Towson (13-4) 2-6 / 8
Goals: HOF - Liz Falco 4, Ashley Jones 2, Corrine Gandolfi 1, Stephanie Rice 1, Jill Maier 1; TOW - Jacie Kendall 4, Nikki Marcinik 2, Jess Dunn 1, Jackie LaMonica 1. Assists: HOF - Corrine Gandolfi 3, Claire Brady 2, Stephanie Rice 1, Jennalee Trombley 1, Sandy Wasserbach 1; TOW - none. Saves: HOF - Mary Cuddihy 10 (45:48, 8 goals allowed), Jackie Pandolf 2 (14:12, 0 goals allowed); TOW - Mary Teeters 12 (60:00, 9 goals allowed). Shots: HOF - 22; TOW - 28. Free-Position Opportunities: HOF - 0 for 1; TOW - 1 for 3. Attendance: 514.
