One year after falling to Trinity (Conn.) College in the national championship game, three local women helped the Salisbury University women's lacrosse team exact revenge.
Sophomore midfielder Bethany Baer (Westminster), sophomore attack Kate Haker (Westminster) and junior attack Shelby Nemecek (Liberty) all played key roles in leading the Sea Gulls to the NCAA Division III national crown with a 12-5 win over Trinity on Sunday.
No. 2 Salisbury finished the season 23-0 on the way to claiming the program's second national title and the 17th in the athletics department's history.
Baer had a standout performance with one goal, two assists, one ground ball, one caused turnover and two draw controls. She was named to the all-tournament team.
Haker added one goal and one assist while Nemecek contributed one goal.
Salisbury started fast, taking a 4-0 lead just under 12 minutes into the contest and maintaining that margin at 6-2 heading into halftime.
Trinity couldn't get any closer than within three the rest of the way.
"We got a very good start, even though we weren't doing real well in the draw control," Salisbury head coach Jim Nestor said in a statement. "Offensively, we took our time. We were very patient, and when she called the timeout, I was telling our players, don't get too high because Cortland was up 3-0 [in the semifinals against Trinity]. We wanted to take it one second, one minute, one play at a time. ... I thought it was a great game."
Baer finished her season with 40 goals and 19 assists. Haker ended with 27 goals and 15 assists. Nemecek tallied 28 goals and two assists.
MUSTANGS MAKE IT: With the help of two locals, the Stevenson University men's lacrosse team has advanced to the program's first Division III national championship game.
Junior long-stick midfielder Ryan Rubenstein (Sykesville/Boys' Latin) has played a significant role in the Mustangs' run with 32 ground balls and 17 caused turnovers in 23 games as a reserve.
Junior midfielder Marcellus Preston (Westminster/Boys' Latin) has contributed 10 ground balls and eight caused turnovers in 16 games off the bench.
Stevenson will face the Rochester Institute of Technology for the title Sunday at 4 p.m. in Philadelphia.
To reach the finals, Stevenson (21-2) had to beat an old rival, taking down former Capital Athletic Conference foe Salisbury 12-6 in the Final Four. The Mustangs have since moved to the Middle Atlantic Conference.
Senior long-stick midfielder Brett Baer (Westminster) is a key figure for the Sea Gulls, who finished 17-6 and advanced to the national semifinals for the fourth straight year. But it was the first time Salisbury was defeated in that round since 1998. The Sea Gulls, who won last year's championship, failed to make the finals for the first time since 2009.
Baer had one ground ball and one caused turnover in the loss. He ended the year with three goals, four assists, 47 ground balls and 25 caused turnovers.
TERPS, HEELS IN FINAL FOUR: The Division I women's lacrosse Final Four is set with ACC rivals University of Maryland and University of North Carolina both part of it.
Senior midfielder Katie Schwarzmann (Century), freshman defender Alice Mercer (Century) and junior midfielder Amalie Trentzsch (Winters Mill) all play for the top-seeded Terrapins (21-0), who face fourth-seeded Syracuse on Friday at 7:30 p.m. in Villanova, Pa., for a spot in the national championship game. This will be Maryland's fifth straight appearance in the Final Four.
Junior midfielder Brittney Coppa (North Carroll) and the third-seeded Tar Heels (16-3) face second-seeded Northwestern on Friday at 5 p.m. in the other semifinal. This is North Carolina's fourth Final Four appearance in five seasons.
SAINTS FALL IN FINAL: Freshman midfielder Carleigh Davis (Liberty) helped the Limestone College women's lacrosse team reach the Division II national championship before falling 10-7 to LIU-Post. Davis finished with two goals in nine games as a reserve for the Saints, who went 20-2 this season.
ALL-STAR MESSERSMITH: Senior Paige Messersmith of the McDaniel College women's lacrosse team has been selected as a member of the South Team in the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association North/South Senior All-Star Game. The annual contest will take place Saturday at Cabrini College in Radnor, Pa.
Messersmith was a consensus second-team All-American after being named first-team All-Centennial Conference and first-team IWLCA All-Metro. Starting all 20 games, she led the Green Terror with 94 draw controls to give her 300 for her career, the most in program and conference history. She also recorded team highs in ground balls (57) and caused turnovers (28). Messersmith ranked second on the squad with 45 goals and 68 points while leading the way with 23 assists.
ALL-REGION JONES: Senior pitcher Zach Jones of the McDaniel baseball team was named to the American Baseball Coaches Association All-Mid-Atlantic Region second team and the d3baseball.com All-Mid-Atlantic Region third team.
Jones became just the sixth Green Terror player to earn first-team All-Centennial Conference honors. He led the team with a 2.44 ERA, which ranked sixth in the conference, finishing the season with a conference-best 10 wins. He was the first to do so in program history.
Jones had 83 strikeouts, which was second in the conference, against just 18 walks in 77 1/3 innings. Jones made 12 starts with five complete games and three shutouts. He finished his career with a program-record 221 strikeouts.
The Terror went 22-16 and advanced to the title game of the ECAC South tournament.
