Semifinal

For the third time in the last four seasons, Stevenson and Salisbury will meet in the NCAA Division III tournament semifinals and at stake is a spot in the championship final at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on May 26. Both sides took different paths to the same destination. The No. 4 Mustangs (20-2) have been ranked in top five for pretty much the entire year and collected a program-record 20th victory with Wednesday night's 13-7 victory over No. 13 Lynchburg. The No. 12 Sea Gulls (17-5)

Broadneck's Ellen McNulty had seven goals and an assist and Aislinn Probst scored four goals and added two assists to lead the No. 12 Bruins (17-3) to a 15-5 win over No. 15 Catonsville (16-3) in the Class 4A-3A state semifinals at Franklin on Saturday afternoon. Probst scored 10 seconds after winning the opening draw, and the Bruins had nine of the first 10 goals in the game on the way to a 10-3 lead at halftime. "We just were trying to stay patient and play our game and score early so we didn't have to fight back at the end," McNulty said.

Salisbury is the torchbearer for NCAA tournament semifinals, making 10 of the last 11 Final Fours. But Stevenson is beginning to establish itself as a regular in the semifinals. The No. 4 Mustangs (20-2) will be making their fourth Final Four appearance in the last five years when they play host to the reigning national champion and No. 12 Sea Gulls (17-5) this Sunday night at Mustang Stadium in Owings Mills. It is a badge of honor for a program that had not qualified for the NCAA tournament until 2009.

Trailing by three goals late in the fourth quarter, there was never a second of doubt for the Glenelg boys lacrosse team in Friday's Class 3A-2A state semifinals game against Kent Island at Annapolis High School. Well, maybe there was a moment or two when it looked like the No. 11 Gladiators' season would come to an end. Then, the experience of reaching the state semifinal in each of the last seven seasons kicked in. Led by junior Nick Forrest, Glenelg scored four goals in the final 2 minutes, 51 seconds to secure a 10-9 victory.

The schedules have been set for this weekend's state boys and girls lacrosse semifinals. Five teams will try to defend their titles: South River, Hereford and Century boys and Century and Fallston girls. The winners will advance to Tuesday's and Wednesday's state title games at UMBC. Friday Class 3A-2A At Franklin C. Milton Wright vs. Century girls, 6 Hereford vs. Century boys, 8 At Annapolis Kent Island vs. Glenelg boys, 6 Queen Anne's vs. Marriotts Ridge girls, 8 Class 2A-1A At Bel Air Fallston vs. Northwestern boys, 6 Loch Raven vs. Winters Mill girls, 8 Saturday Class 4A-3A At Franklin Broadneck vs. Catonsville girls, noon Westminster vs. Churchill boys, 2 At Annapolis South River vs. Howard boys, noon Howard vs. Sherwood girls, 2:30 Class 2A-1A At Bel Air Patterson Mill vs.

Although this is the first time these programs will meet in the NCAA tournament, they have met nine times in the regular season since 2006. Stevenson has won five of those contests. Lynchburg (14-5) - ranked 13th in the most recent United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association poll - is 0-1 in the quarterfinal round, losing to Roanoke, 10-9, in 2005. Senior Vin Curran has won 55.8 percent (129-of-231) of his faceoffs and ranks third on the team in goals with 29. No. 4 Stevenson (19-2)

There wasn't any defining moment or quick string of goals in Wednesday's Class 4A East boys lacrosse region title game featuring defending state champion South River and its Anne Arundel County rival Chesapeake. It was more just South River doing what it does best this time of year. The No. 10 Seahawks controlled play most of the way, methodically finished off scoring chances and clamped down on defense when called upon to earn a thorough 10-3 home win over the No. 13 Cougars and return to the Class 4A-3A state semifinals.

Three goals from freshman attackman Brady Dashiell and a suffocating defensive effort fueled No. 12 Salisbury's 7-4 upset of No. 8 Washington and Lee in Saturday's second-round contest of the NCAA tournament. But that does not mean that all is well with the reigning national champion. The first midfield of senior Eric Kluge and juniors Tyler Smith and Greg Korvin finished with zero goals and zero assists against the Generals, marking the first time this season that the trio had been shut out since partnering together in March.

With thunderstorms in the area expected to linger until after sunset, the coaches of No. 1 McDonogh and No. 9 Maryvale postponed their IAAM A Conference girls lacrosse semifinal until tomorrow at 4 p.m. The teams waited about 30 minutes past the 4:30 p.m. start time Wednesday, but a storm lingered nearby. McDonogh coach Chris Robinson and Maryvale coach Jessica Randisi agreed that they did not want to start the game and be forced to stop if another storm rolled past McDonogh's Owings Mills campus.

Despite being the top seed in the Ivy League tournament, Cornell was stunned, 14-13, in overtime by No. 12 Princeton. That result cost the Big Red one of the eight seeds in the NCAA tournament and the right to host a home game in the first round. No. 2 Cornell (12-3) will visit No. 11 and sixth-seeded Maryland (10-3) at Byrd Stadium in College Park this Sunday, but Terps coach John Tillman is not as concerned about the Big Red's last outing as he is about that team's entire season.