Penn women win first-round game of NCAA tourney

The Penn women's lacrosse team earned its first NCAA Tournament win since 1983 with an 11-5 victory over Boston University yesterday at Rhodes Field.

The Quakers (15-1) host Maryland in the second round Saturday at Franklin Field. The Terrapins advanced by beating Yale, 13-7.

Penn played at Rhodes Field because of graduation at Franklin Field, which also happens to be the site of the Final Four on May 25 and 27.

"We wanted to win and be able to play at Franklin Field for the rest of the tournament, and that's what we're going to do," coach Karin Brower said.

Junior Rachel Manson scored three goals and became the 13th Penn player to reach 100 career points.

"I thought it was really exciting," Manson said. "To come into the stadium and see the line of fans going out up the road to get in, it fired us up."

Chrissy Muller and Ali DeLuca each scored twice for Penn. Goalkeeper Sarah Waxman made seven saves. BU outshot Penn, 23-21, but had just 12 shots on goal.

In another women's game:

West Chester went home empty-handed again, falling to undefeated C.W. Post, 15-7, in the Division II championship game in Salem, Va.

The Rams finished 19-2 - a school record for wins - but both losses were to C.W. Post. West Chester is now 1-5 in title games over the last 7 years.

Chrissy Kane scored four goals, Jackie Baker had two and Katy Crouse had one.

Post (17-0) scored 30 seconds into the second half and outscored the Rams by 11-5 after halftime.

In men's games:

* Delaware, the 15th seed, shocked second-seeded Virginia, 14-8, in a Division I tournament first-round game in Charlottesville. Virginia's Drew Thompson scored 16 seconds into the second half to tie the score at 7 before Delaware (12-5) scored seven unanswered goals. Virginia, the defending national champions, finish at 12-4.

Curtis Dickson had four goals and an assist, and Jordan Hall and Vincent Giordano each scored twice for Delaware. The Blue Hens will play Maryland-Baltimore County in next weekend's quarterfinals at the Naval Academy. UMBC beat Maryland, 13-9, last night.

* Widener and Cabrini were eliminated in the second round of the Division III tournament on Saturday. Widener lost to unanimous No. 1 Salisbury, 16-8, and Cabrini lost to visiting Ithaca, 18-11.

For Widener (13-6), Brian Stromko, Chris Matthews and Gavin Goane scored two goals apiece.

Cabrini (15-3) cut the deficit to 10-9 at 8:41 of the third quarter, but Ithaca scored eight unanswered goals to take control. *