Box Score

St. Mary's City, Md. – The St. Mary's College of Maryland women's lacrosse team was eliminated from the 2011 Capital Athletic Conference Women's Lacrosse Championship Tournament as fifth-seeded York College of Pennsylvania posted a 10-7 victory in first round action Sunday afternoon.

York (13-3) now advances to Tuesday's semifinal contest at top-seeded Salisbury University while the Seahawks, the No. 4 seed in this year's tournament, will close out the 2011 campaign on Sunday, May 1st against Christopher Newport University in Seahawk Stadium at 2:00 pm for Senior Day.

St. Mary's (11-6) struggled offensively in the first half and the Spartans capitalized with four unanswered goals to claim a 4-0 lead with 10:42 left in the half.  Sophomore midfielder Emily Shafer (Hollywood, Md./Leonardtown) finally put the Seahawks on the board with back-to-back goals at 3:48 and 0:31 to cut York's lead in half.  The Seahawk defense tamed the YCP attack until the final horn of the half when sophomore midfielder Leah Schultz (Catonsville, Md./Seton Keough) swatted in a loose ball following teammate Erica Mulford's (Crownsville, Md./Seton Keough) blocked shot for a 5-2 York halftime lead.

Schultz paced the Spartan offense with a hat trick on the day as well as a game-best four draw controls while sophomore attacker Kim Wayson (Harwood, Md./Southern) contributed two goals, an assist, and two ground balls.

Sophomore midfielder Lauriann Parker (Woodbine, Md./Glenelg) pulled the Seahawks within 5-3 at 27:21 of the second half with an unassisted goal before York rattled off three straight goals to push its lead to 8-3 with 19:58 left in the game.  St. Mary's rallied with four unanswered goals, including two in 11 seconds, to close the gap to 8-7 with 11:51 remaining.

However, York controlled possession for the remainder of the contest while the YCP defense held the Seahawks to just one shot, which was denied by sophomore goalie Tina Nicklas (Baltimore, Md./Catonsville), while SMCM turned the ball over three times.  Wayson and first-year Kerri Nicolich (Islip, N.Y./Islip) converted free-position shots at 8:29 and 4:24, respectively, to seal the deal for the Spartans.

Parker finished the game with two goals and two assists to pace the Seahawks while Shafer ended up with her two first-half goals.  Midfielders Aubrey Mirkin (Ashton, Md./Sherwood) and Erin Shackelford (Annapolis, Md./Annapolis) and junior attacker Melissa Mayer (Crofton, Md./South River) all found the back of the net as well.

Senior defender Elisa Bateman (Sparks, Md./Hereford) scooped up a game-high five ground balls while Mirkin contributed two caused turnovers.  Junior goalie Colleen Simpson (Arnold, Md./Broadneck) picked up 14 saves and one ground ball in the loss.