Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, May 20, 1990 TAG: 9005200092
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOHN SMALLWOOD SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: PRINCETON, N.J. LENGTH: Medium
The Saints found the Lady Maroons' weakness early, exploited it often and rudely bounced Roanoke from the NCAA Division III women's lacrosse tournament 14-7 Saturday at Palmer Stadium.
St. Lawrence, of Canton, N.Y., earned its first appearance in the championship game. The Saints will play defending champion Ursinus for the national title at 1 p.m. today.
"It was a great performance," said Tracy Coyne, Roanoke's coach. "They took advantage of every opportunity we gave them and turned them into goals."
A battle of unbeaten teams became lopsided when the Saints (15-0) found out they had a considerable speed advantage over the Lady Maroons.
Robin Collinson's goal gave Roanoke (18-1) a 1-0 lead 42 seconds into the game, but St. Lawrence scored the next nine goals to all but end the game before halftime.
The Saints' quickness allowed them to sprint past the Maroons in the midfield and make solo runs into the attack zone.
"Incredible speed," Coyne said. "They were creating a lot of things in front of the crease. Speed in the midfield? There's not a thing you can do about it. You either have it or you don't. They did, and we didn't. They shot with great accuracy and worked well together."
Attacker Andrea Ribaudo and midfielder Margaret Chandler did most of the damage. The Saints' only seniors combined for nine goals.
Almost immediately after Collinson's goal, Lisa Sher tied the score.
Things snowballed after that.
Allison Rogers scored. Then Ribaudo netted three of her six goals in a three-minute span to make it 5-1.
"When we got that goal back quickly, we really relaxed," said Ribaudo, who is the leading scorer in St. Lawrence history with 158 goals and 236 points. "We got the lead and it built our confidence. But I didn't think we'd be up 9-1 at the half."
Neither did Coyne, who saw her team dominated for the first time this season.
St. Lawrence weaved through Roanoke's defense, sending wave after wave of attackers at goalie Kiki Chesterton.
"There were a lot of one-on-ones and sometimes three-on-ones," said Chesterton, who finished with 16 saves. "We haven't seen shots like that all season."
The Saints outshot the Lady Maroons 16-2 in the first half and 30-10 for the game.
"Speed has been an asset all year for this team," said Dottie Hall, the St. Lawrence coach. "We're poetry in motion when we really get it going."
Roanoke had opportunities in the first half, but a bad pass here or a dropped ball there kept the Maroons from converting.
Goals - St. Lawrence: Ribaudo 6, Chandler 3, Smith, Rogers 2, Wiggin, Pierce, Sher. Roanoke: Collinson 3, Budnitz 3, Dittman.
Assists - St. Lawrence: Chandler, Ribaudo, Pierce, Sher 2. Roanoke: Collinson, Brown 2.
Saves - St. Lawrence: Williams 3. Roanoke: Chesterton 16.
Shots - 30-10, St. Lawrence.
by CNB