Penn women in lacrosse Final Four

Penn's Melissa Lehman hesitated, planted her left foot, then sliced toward the goal, her stick held high as a target, a silent call for the ball.

Allison Ambrozy stood behind the net, cradling the ball, waiting for something to develop.

She saw Lehman's cut.

No, she thought, the defender's too close, it's too risky.

Lehman kept coming, the web of her lacrosse stick raised no more than a foot above her defender's.

Ambrozy noticed. She saw Lehman's gain of half a step. She whipped the ball.

Lehman's stick gave with arrival, and in one motion, before she took even a stride, the flash of yellow was redirected, splashing into the Boston University goal.

There were other goals yesterday. Penn won, 8-5, in the NCAA women's lacrosse quarterfinal at Drexel's Vidas Field, but none demonstrated the precision with which the second-seeded Quakers played quite like Ambrozy's feed.

The win sent Penn (16-1) to its second consecutive Final Four. The Quakers will play unseeded Duke at 8:30 p.m. Friday at Towson's Johnny Unitas Stadium. Duke upset third-seeded Maryland, 9-7.

Top-seeded Northwestern, winner of three straight NCAA titles, and No. 5 Syracuse will meet at 6 p.m.

Penn's commencement ceremony, held at Franklin Field, forced the shift in venue yesterday.

The Quakers flirted with the Terriers (18-3) for about 20 minutes. With the game tied, 2-2, Ambrozy set up shop, ball in possession, behind the BU goal.

"We've been working on those cuts all week," Lehman said. "I used a little hesitation to set it up."

"At first, her defender seemed like she was on her," Ambrozy said. "But Melissa is so good at getting her stick up."

And that's what it was like all afternoon for Penn: patient possessions, slight hesitations, and pinpoint passes.

Toss in a goalie, Sarah Waxman, who defended her net the way a lion does a den, and not much, certainly not these Terriers, could stop Penn.

Boston University 2 3 - 5

Penn 4 4 - 8

Goals: B-Lauren Morton 2, Sarah Dalton 2, Xan Weitzel. P-Rachel Manson 2, Emma Spiro 2, Ali DeLuca, Giulia Giordano, Kaitlyn Lombardo, Melissa Lehman.

Saves: B-Rachel Klein 13. P-Sarah Waxman 9.