April 28, 2001
STOCKERTOWN, Pa. - Holy Cross scored six unanswered goals in the first half and that helped catapult the Crusaders to an 11-7 victory over the Villanova Wildcats in the Patriot League tournament semifinal played here at Lafayette College's Metzger Field. Villanova completes its season with a 6-11 overall record.
On a sunny, breezy afternoon Villanova showed no signs of early jitters. The Wildcats scored first when sophomore Meghan Carolan (Hicksville, N.Y.) fired a shot into the net at the 25:38 mark of the first half. Carolan scored again at the 21:39 mark of the first half to give the 'Cats a 2-0.
Holy Cross, however, responded. Justine Weaver got the Crusaders on the scoreboard at the 19:19 mark and Taylor Connelly followed with another goal at the 17:31 mark. Villanova coach Shannon O'Neil called a timeout and sophomore goalkeeper Kelly O'Leary (Milford, Conn.) replaced starter Brandy Grenier (Rochester, N.Y.) in net.
But that didn't slow Holy Cross' momentum as the Crusaders kept scoring. Holy Cross scored four more goals before intermission while Villanova freshman Megan Sullivan (Park Ridge, Ill.) was the only 'Cat to find the back of the net. Holy Cross held a 6-3 lead at the half.
Another Weaver goal shortly after halftime pushed Holy Cross to a 7-3 lead. When Katie Grant scored on Grenier at the 18:30 mark, the Crusaders lead was 10-3.
Villanova did not quit, though, and notched the game's next four scores in a frantic rally. Freshman Rachel Damelouiji (Huntingtown, Md.), Carolan, Cecily Pierce (New Canaan, Conn.) and Lauren Ferrara (Tabernacle, N.J.) cut the gap to 10-7 with 8:55 left on the clock. But Holy Cross controlled the subsequent draw and ran out much of the clock before scoring a final time at the 2:52 mark to make the final 11-7.
Notebook: Carolan and Pierce were named to the Patriot League First Team at the annual banquet held last night. Sophomore Sarah DePeters was named to the league's second team...DePeters did not play for most of the second half due to a red card that resulted from a substitution mix-up...Grenier made three saves in net while O'Leary (17:31 minutes) had one.
