2001
Maryland 14, Georgetown 13 (OT) Homewood Field, Baltimore
Georgetown pushed Maryland to the
brink, erasing an 8-1 deficit and forcing overtime, where Terps goalie Alexis Venechanos made a huge free-position save on Sheehan Stanwick. Maryland’s Allison Comito scored
with 8 seconds left to win the game. The Terps finished 23-0 behind NCAA all-time leading scorer and inaugural Tewaaraton Award winner Jen Adams, who had a goal and four assists. It was Maryland’s seventh straight NCAA title. The Terps did not win again until 2010.
Jen Adams: We went in hoping and expecting to play a
brand of lacrosse that would be unmatched. I had a pretty solid defensive matchup that
game — a lot of heat, lots of doubles whenever I touched the ball. But the awesome thing about Maryland was you had to stop all seven of us. I remember laughing to myself thinking, “This isn’t working. Why are you playing so tight on me?” We had the lead. And I remember how quickly it slipped away. It was like, “Wow, we didn’t expect
2005
Kristen Kjellman
Northwestern 13, Virginia 10 Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, Annapolis, Md.
Northwestern, which fielded a club team just five years earlier, beat then-reigning
champ Virginia to become the first team from outside the Eastern Time Zone to win an NCAA title. Northwestern’s Kristen Kjellman, who went on to win the Tewaaraton Award in 2006 and 2007, scored five goals in the championship game. Virginia’s Amy Appelt, the 2004 Tewaaraton Award winner for Virginia, was limited to one goal in the loss. The victory marked the beginning of the Wildcats dynasty, crafted by coach Kelly Amonte Hiller by developing late bloomers or raw athletes. It was a turning point in women’s lacrosse.
Kristen Kjellman: It’s more difficult to come back and win it a second time. Maybe it was easier for us without any of that
pressure they might have felt. We were pumped to be in the game and knew we had a shot at it. I was only a sophomore, but it was especially meaningful for the seniors, because they had been building
to have such a gap on them. This is Maryland lacrosse at its finest.” And all of a sudden, it was gone. Goal by goal by goal by goal. Oh, now we’re close. Now we’re tied. Now we’re in OT. They had the ball on an 8-meter and I said to Ali
Comito, “I can’t watch.” I turned my back on it. But I remember seeing her face light up, and she just started running. I figured the save had been made, but I actually never personally witnessed that save being made. The look on Ali Comito’s face will forever be ingrained on my mind. It’s not the [game-winning] goal that she ended up scoring. In my head, I see her face at that save. Then I remember Alison sticking it in the back
of the net and everyone was celebrating, and she was having an asthma attack at the bottom of the pile. To win a championship is one thing, but to win it when it’s so close to being taken away from you is another. In a season when we had six one-goal games including that championship, I can’t believe we squeaked away with another one.
— as told to Clare Lochary A Publication of US Lacrosse
the program for a few years, and each year we had gotten a little better. I remember the celebration fondly and then getting recognized later at the White House. The press
around the flip-flops some of the girls wore was pretty silly, because I thought we all looked great. But it was all in good fun, and we actually ended up raising a lot of money around it, using flip-flop pins and things like that as a fundraiser. We probably weren’t all better lacrosse players than Virginia, but I think we were better coached and better athletes that day. At the time, we didn’t know where it would go.
Amy Appelt: We played Northwestern the year prior in the quarterfinals, and it was a tough game. They were flying
under the radar all year and peaking right when they needed to. We definitely were not taking them lightly. We had a chance to go into halftime up by one, but they took the lead in the last few minutes, and
we had a fast-break goal called back, so that was a huge momentum swing. This was also before the stall rules came into play. They held the ball several minutes at a time. All we could do was foul to get possession back, and they took advantage, which led to them winning the championship. I didn’t realize how special that was for them, because all I could think about was that I didn’t win. I took
that loss pretty hard. Now as a coach, I realize how it’s broadened the game. Northwestern winning that first championship definitely opened doors. It’s a bicoastal sport now. We had phenomenal lacrosse players, but they had a little more jump, because I remember them being
more all-sport oriented. You can’t teach athleticism. They did a great job recruiting that type of player that didn’t have to think so much and just had to react, and then Kelly had to just take her expertise and teach her skill. Two years after that, we ended up losing to Northwestern again in the championship, so it’s definitely been tough for Virginia since then.
— as told to Laurel Pfahler May 2014 >> LACROSSE MAGAZINE 53
©KEVIN P. TUCKER (2001); ©JOHN STROHSACKER (2005)
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