The NCAA News - News and Features

May 4, 1998

National Collegiate Women's Lacrosse

North Carolina hopes to nab title

Event: National Collegiate Women's Lacrosse Championship.

Overview: In its third varsity season, North Carolina downed three-time defending champion Maryland, 10-9, March 8. The Tar Heels beat the Terps again, 12-10, April 18 in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament semifinals, but fell to Virginia, 9-7, in the final. Until that game, the Tar Heels had bowed only to William and Mary, a team with a losing record, 11-7. Goalkeeper Debbie Castene is second in the nation with a goals-against average of 5.51. Erin McGinnis has 37 goals, 19 more than anyone else on the team, and also has 12 assists .... Obviously, no one has counted out Maryland, even though the Terps have lost three. The Terrapins feature Sascha Newmarch, who is third in the nation in assists per game (2.25) and seventh in points per game (4.58). Sophomore goalkeeper Alex Kahoe is third in the country in saves percentage (.662) and fourth in goals-against average (6.29) .... Virginia, which could move into the top spot in the rankings, has lost only two times, to North Carolina and Maryland. The Cavaliers are third in scoring margin (6.75) nationally. Goalkeeper Heather Castle is fifth nationally in goals-against average (6.42) .... Princeton, the last team besides Maryland to win the title, has rebounded from last year's 7-7 record to win seven of its first nine games .... Not to be forgotten is Loyola (Maryland), which was last year's runner-up. The Greyhounds have the nation's top scoring defense team, surrendering 5.30 goals per game. Goalkeeper Kourtney Heavey is tops in the nation in goals-against average (5.38) and second in saves percentage (.664).

Field: Twelve teams in a sin-gle-elimination tournament. All teams will be selected at-large. One team must be from Division II.

Dates and sites: First-round games will be played May 6 at campus sites. Quarterfinals will be May 9 on campuses. Semifi-nals and championship games are May 15 and 17 at Maryland- Baltimore County.

Information/results: The fax-on-demand telephone number is 770/399-3060 (passcode 1915). The request numbers are 5131 for the semifinals and 5132 for the championship. No other games will be posted. Results of the semifinals and finals also will be available on the World Wide Web at www.ncaa.org. First-round and quarterfinal results will be in the May 18 issue of The NCAA News. Semifinal and championship results will be in the May 25 issue.