York jumped out to a big first-half lead, then withstood the pressure of Mary Washington's veteran attack to gain a 9-6 victory over the Eagles and secure a bid opposite top-ranked Salisbury in the 2012 CAC Women's Lacrosse Championship Game.  The Sea Gulls advanced to the championship game for the 13th time in the last 14 years with a 9-6 victory over Stevenson.

The second-seeded Spartans, ranked #11 nationally, raced out to an 8-2 halftime lead, then held off 12th-ranked Mary Washington for the first CAC semifinal playoff win in team history.

YCP will play at Salisbury Saturday at 6 p.m. for the 2012 CAC title and an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament.

The nine-time defending conference champions dispatched of 17th-ranked Stevenson in Tuesday's other semifinal.

At York, the #11 Spartans advanced to the championship game of the 2012 Capital Athletic Conference Tournament after registering a 9-6 victory against #13 Mary Washington on Tuesday in the semifinal round of the league playoffs. The Spartan triumph extends their overall record to 14-3 as their 14^th win of the season sets a new program record for victories in a single season. The Eagles' loss drops them to 13-4 on the season.

The Green and White came out of the gates firing as they connected with the back of the net three times in the first seven minutes of the game. Kim Wayson provided two of the three opening salvos with sophomore Erica Mulford adding the other unassisted goal.

Mary Washington briefly slowed the Spartan attack with a goal at the 22:28 mark of the first half to bring the game to 3-1. Undaunted, York responded in just 30 seconds as Wayson notched her third goal of the game. Katie Vautier snagged the ensuing draw control, raced toward York's attacking end, and found Wayson who knifed in for the tally. Wayson's goal sparked another Spartan run as they notched three more consecutive tallies to extend their lead to 7-1.  Kerri Nicolich's two goals during that second run aided the Spartan attack.

York capitalized on seven of their first nine possessions in the first half strongly due to several great individual efforts. Both teams scored a goal in the last fifteen minutes of the first half to bring the score to 8-2 going into intermission.

The 13^th-ranked Mary Washington squad started the second half looking to quickly slice into the Spartan advantage. The Eagles tallied four consecutive goals during the first 18 minutes of the second half to tighten the game up at 8-6. Catherine Kennedy, Maggie Nunn, and Jenna Petrucelli led the Eagle surge.

With that Spartans facing adversity due to the Mary Washington run, Nicolich was able to break York's 25-minute scoring drought by connecting with the back of the net. Nicolich's goal came on a free-position shot that extended the Spartans' lead to 9-6 with five minutes remaining.

Leading by three with time ticking down, Spartan goalkeeper Kelsey Evans made two consecutive saves on shots from Kennedy, who sports the second-most goals in the CAC this season. Evans stoned a Kennedy free-position shot with 2:38 left to play before registering a second save just 12 ticks later to keep the game at 9-6 York.

York led the game with 15 groundballs and 10 draw controls while the Eagles posted nine and seven, respectively. Leah Schultz notched a game-high six draw controls for the Green and White. York's 8-2 first half lead was due in large part to the Spartans' effectiveness in winning the draw.

Wayson and Nicolich each posted three goals while Schultz tallied twice and Mulford added one to her season total. Evans provided the team with five saves.

Kennedy and Petrucelli contributed for four of Mary Washington's six goals. Goalkeeper Kathryn Stiltz recorded six saves for the Eagles.

Aside from their program-record-setting 14^th win of the season, the Spartans also make their first trip to the CAC Tournament Championship. York is slated to travel to Maryland's eastern shore to take on #1 Salisbury, who topped #19 Stevenson 9-4 in the other semifinal, for the CAC title on Saturday, April 28. Check back to www.ycpspartans.com for game time

At Salisbury, the No. 1 Sea Gulls defeated No. 17 Stevenson 9-4 to advance to the Capital Athletic Conference championship game. The win in the semifinals extends the Sea Gulls' conference winning streak to 86-straight games.   This was the second time in nine days that these two teams have played, but the second go-around was significantly closer than the first contest. On April 15, the Sea Gulls defeated Stevenson (9-7) 20-2 in Owings Mills, Md.

Junior Katie Bollhorst led the Salisbury (17-0) attack with six points, three goals and three assists.  Senior Carrie Bray got the Sea Gulls on the board just 32 seconds into the game. Stevenson's Marissa Meiklejohn evened the score six and a half minutes later, after the Mustangs kept the ball in their offensive third for much of that time.

Bollhorst netted her first goal of the game at the 12:01 mark to give the Sea Gulls the lead for good. The Severna Park, Md., native scored her second of the game, to widen the lead to 3-1, just 31 seconds later.  Senior Alyssa Fowler netted her only goal of the game to give the Sea Gulls a 4-1 lead before two Stevenson goals narrowed the lead to 4-3. Freshman Bethany Baer added a goal seven seconds before the half to give Salisbury a 5-3 lead at halftime.

The first half was played at a much slower pace than the typical Sea Gull contest, as Stevenson was able to control the ball in its offensive third, minimizing the chances for the Salisbury attack.  

The second half was much of the same, as Stevenson controlled possession but the Sea Gulls controlled the scoreboard. Meiklejohn scored less than two minutes into the second half, getting the Mustangs within one, 5-4, but Salisbury would put up the game's final four tallies as the Sea Gulls were able to pull ahead and hang on for a hard-fought victory.

Sophomore goalie Hannah Whiteley picked up her first win of the season, stopping five Mustang shots to pick up the decision.