The Union College women's lacrosse team, 13-3 and ranked #16 in the IWLCA poll, will face #5 Colorado College (10-1) in the regionals of the 2005 NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse Championship. The game will be played Saturday, May 14 at Colorado College in Colorado Springs, CO at 2:30 p.m. (4:30 p.m. Eastern). In the other regional game at that site, host Cortland (17-1) will face Cabrini (12-6) at 11:30 a.m. local time. The winners will play for the regional title Sunday, May 15 at 1 p.m. (3 p.m. Eastern time) at Colorado College, the new site (the event was moved from Cortland, NY).
Union brings a 12-game winning streak into the tournament. This is the seventh time in eight years that Union will compete in a post-season tournament. The Dutchwomen have also competed in the NCAA's in 1999 and 2002. Union won the Liberty League's automatic NCAA bid Sunday at home with an 18-6 victory over St. Lawrence in the league's championship game. Senior midfielder Molly Flanagan (Simsbury, CT/Loomis Chaffee) was the US Lacrosse pre-season Player of the Year, and also won the Liberty League Player of the Year honors last week. She leads the Dutchwomen with 51 goals, 17 assists and 68 points, as well as 121 shots, 95 shots on net, 65 ground balls and 56 caused turnovers. She ranks ninth in the nation in caused turnovers. Senior Kathy Dolezal (Clearwater, FL/Williston Northampton) has 43 goals and 50 points with an .806 shot on goal percentage. Goaltender Rachel Beckman (Needham, MA/Needham) has a 7.74 goals against average and a 10-3 record on the season.
Colorado College had opened the season with 10 straight victories until losing to Division I Denver in the final game of the regular season on April 30. This is CC's fourth straight appearance in the tournament. The Tigers and Dutchwomen have one common opponent on their schedules. Union lost to Colby, 10-8 in the season opener on March 21 in Florida, while CC was a 15-8 victor over Colby on April 21 in Maine. The Tigers received one of six at-large selections to the 19-team field. CC ranks 11th in NCAA Division III in ground balls per game (32.6) and 13th in scoring with an average of 13.6 goals per game. Attack Kate Fitzgerald has team highs in goals with 29 and points with 41, while attack Jen Alpern has 19 assists. Goaltender Alana Dalton has an 8.00 GAA and 9-1 record in 11 games this spring.
Play begins with first round games Wednesday, May 11 on campus sites, and the regionals are May 14-15 on campus sites. The College of New Jersey will host the Finals on May 21-22.