Dartmouth

BOSTON -- Northwestern's Sarah Albrecht admittedly didn't play the best half of her career during the first 30 minutes of last night's NCAA Division I women's lacrosse tournament semifinal game at Boston University. But Albrecht more than made up for whatever mistakes she made in the first half by scoring the winning goal as the defending champion Wildcats edged the Blue Devils, 11-10, in double overtime. Northwestern will face Dartmouth, which beat Notre Dame in last night's other semifinal, 14-8, for the national championship at noon tomorrow.

No. 4 Maryland refused to take unranked Dartmouth lightly this time, and the Big Green went down with a thud. Yesterday at Ludwig Field in College Park, the Terps overwhelmed Dartmouth from the opening faceoff, shut it out for three quarters and rolled to a 14-2 victory. Senior attackman Joe Walters scored a season-high four goals and had three assists, and senior midfielder/attackman Xander Ritz added three goals and two assists to lead the Terps (5-1). A year ago, Maryland took a spring-break trip to Florida, where, as the nation's fourth-ranked team, it dropped a 7-6 decision to the unranked Big Green.

COLLEGE PARK // No. 4 Maryland scored seven goals in the first quarter and went on to dominate Dartmouth, 14-2, Tuesday afternoon at Ludwig Field. Maryland (5-1) did not allow a Dartmouth shot until 6:56 in the second quarter and the Big Green did not get a shot on goal until 3:13 during an extra-man opportunity. Joe Walters scored four goals for the Terps, who led 11-0 at the half. Dartmouth got on the board in the fourth quarter with a goal from Bread Heritage at the 6:28 mark, but Maryland responded with its first man-down goal of the season on freshman Scott Tompkins' first collegiate goal with an assist by sophomore midfielder Drew Evans.

The Evanston Express rolled on last night as No. 1 Northwestern took an early lead and defensively smothered yet another opponent en route to an 8-4 victory over No. 4 Dartmouth in an NCAA Division I women's lacrosse semifinal at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Before 3,218 rain-soaked fans, the Wildcats, from Evanston, Ill. just north of Chicago, improved to 20-0 and became the first team from outside the Eastern time zone to advance to the title game. Northwestern, in just the fourth year of its return to varsity status after a 10-year hiatus, will play No. 6 and defending national champion Virginia for the title tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. "This is our new tradition.

Junior attacker Lindsay Lewis (Glenelg) scored with 1:39 left to give fifth-ranked Boston University a 10-9 win over visiting, No. 2 Dartmouth in women's lacrosse yesterday. The loss to the Terriers (14-1) was the first of the season for the Big Green (13-1). College of Notre Dame 11, St. Vincent (Pa.) 9: Freshman midfielder Anne Shippen (Glenelg) had four goals as the host Gators (7-5) held off a late charge by the Bearcats (4-8). McDaniel 10, Dickinson 7: Kristen Ramey's three goals helped the Green Terror (11-4)

Senior midfielder Linda Ackermann scored three goals and had two assists as Salisbury captured its third straight Capital Athletic Conference championship in women's lacrosse with a 16-8 victory over Goucher yesterday. The Sea Gulls (12-0) are No. 1 in Division III and have won 23 of their past 24 games dating back to last season. The visiting Gophers (8-7) were led by freshman Emily Blatter's three goals and one assist. No. 4 Dartmouth 12, No. 3 Princeton 9: The win was the first for the host Big Green (13-0, 7-0)

The fourth-ranked Maryland men's lacrosse team was upset by Dartmouth, 7-6, last night in Boca Raton, Fla. The Big Green (4-2) outscored the Terps 3-1 in the third quarter to erase the Terps' 3-1 halftime lead. The Terps (3-1) had two final chances to tie the game but Dartmouth goalie Andrew Goldstein made two saves in the final 45 seconds to preserve the win. No. 3 Duke 10, Vermont 3: Junior Dan Flannery scored three goals and the Blue Devils' defense held the visiting Catamounts (2-2)

Katieanne Christian, Sarah Pzefi and Kristen Barry each scored two goals yesterday as Dartmouth College defeated visiting Maryland, 10-8, for the first time. After spotting the ninth-ranked Terps (5-3) a 4-1 lead, the eighth-ranked Big Green (3-0) scored four straight to lead 5-4 at the half. Devon Wills secured the win with five of her seven saves in the second half for Dartmouth. Maryland had won the previous 12 meetings, dating to 1993. Delia Cox led the Terps with four goals, giving her 16 on the season.

COLLEGE PARK - After a sluggish first half, the eighth-ranked Maryland women's lacrosse team used an early second-half surge to get past No. 11 Dartmouth, 11-8, yesterday at Ludwig Field. The Terps' Delia Cox led all scorers with three goals and an assist and grabbed a team-best five ground balls. Jessica Dorney had three goals, and Acacia Walker had two. Kelly Coppedge, who was held scoreless in the first half, had two goals and an assist in the second half for Maryland (6-2). "This was a big game for us," Maryland coach Cindy Timchal said.

After a year's absence, the Maryland women's lacrosse team is returning to the NCAA final four. That was the outgrowth yesterday when the Terrapins shook off pesky Dartmouth in the final 15 minutes for a 13-5 quarterfinal victory at Loyola's Curley Field. The game was shifted to Baltimore and artificial turf yesterday morning after constant rainfall made Maryland's Ludwig Field an unplayable mess. "We talked in the locker room after the game about how special it was for this team to come back after what happened last year," said Maryland coach Cindy Timchal.