The Maryland women's lacrosse team defeated Syracuse, 12-10, on Saturday in College Park to remain unbeaten and advance to the NCAA Division I final four.
Junior midfielder Caitlyn McFadden led the No. 2 Terps (21-0) with four goals, and sophomore attacker Sarah Mollison added three goals and an assist.
Katie Rowan scored seven points (five goals and two assists) for the seventh-seeded Orange.
Freshman goalkeeper Brittany Dipper made eight saves for Maryland, which led 7-6 at halftime.
The Terps will face third seed North Carolina, which beat sixth seed Notre Dame, 16-10, in the semifinals, Friday at Towson's Johnny Unitas Stadium. The Orange finished 14-4. Last year, it fell in the semifinals to eventual national champion Northwestern.
Syracuse took a 4-0 lead in the first three minutes of play. Tewaaraton finalist Katie Rowan assisted on the first score and added a pair of goals in the Syracuse run. The Terps continued to pepper shots at the Orange defense, but goalie Liz Hogan made eight first-half saves. Sarah Mollison put the Terps on the board with a goal at 20:40 and started a 4-0 Maryland run. The attacker from Melbourne, Australia, tallied two more goals in the run to even the score with 11 minutes left in the half.
Rowan gave the lead back to Syracuse with an unassisted score at 7:31, but Maryland quickly answered with goals from Brittany Jones and Karri Ellen Johnson for a 6-5 Terrapins lead. After another Orange goal, Maryland freshman Kristy Black tallied a caused turnover, a ground ball and a goal in the final seconds for a 7-6 Terps lead at the half.
Johnson scored first in the second half to cushion Maryland's lead to two before Rowan struck again for the Orange with a pair of goals to tie the game, at 8-8. Not to be outdone by Rowan, a fellow teammate on the U.S. National team, McFadden went into action with three goals in a four-minute span. Amanda Spinnenweber took a quick pass from Mollison over the cage to provide the Terps with their biggest lead of the game, at 12-9.
The Terps advance to the NCAA semifinals for the 16th time in program history after completing their 11th perfect home season.
