Laxwomen Face Virginia in Final Four

And then there were four.

With Harvard and Princeton victories last weekend, the final four teams in the NCAA Women's Lacrosse Tournament have been determined.

Fourth-ranked Harvard will face top-seeded Virginia, and third-ranked Princeton will face second-seeded Maryland this weekend at Byrd Stadium in College Park, Md.

This is it. The highest level of women's lacrosse, and Harvard has reached it once again. The Crimson has appeared in five of the last six semifinal rounds, with three trips to the championship game. In 1990 Harvard won it all, brought back the national title and crowned itself queen.

Despite a few early losses this season, the Crimson made it back to the semifinals in style. Harvard lost to Maryland and Princeton in March and early April, but then began the ten-game winning streak that it currently rides into the Final Four.

And with the Crimson's tough 11-8 victory Saturday over the Big Green, Harvard is back where it belongs, fighting for another chance to do the national crown.

Princeton defeated Penn State 11-7 this weekend in Princeton, N.J. to secure its place in the semifinals. The Tigers lost to Virginia 15-7 earlier this season and suffered their only other loss at the hands of Pennsylvania about a month ago.

The Tigers and the Crimson shared the Ivy League title this year, but both teams are underdogs in the semifinals. Virginia (13-1) and Maryland (12-1) both received byes and now cruise into the Final Four with stellar seasons under their belts.

Maryland has the home field advantage and faces a Tiger team that has reached the semifinals three times, including last year, but that has never advanced to the finals.

Virginia has been at the top of the polls for most of the season and will be hard to beat.

Of course, the Crimson has three things on its side: experience, Liz Berkery and Liz Berkery.

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Ivy Honors: Speaking of Liz Berkery, the senior from Wellesley, Mass., was honored as Ivy League Player of the Week for the first time this season.

The conference finally decided to acknowledge Berkery and awarded her Offensive Player of the Week honors for her five goals against Dartmouth. The Eliot senior netted the gamewinner and boosted her career scoring mark to 160 goals and 39 assists.

This season alone, she has scorched opposing teams for 47 goals and 15 assists. It's hard to believe that Berkery will be playing in her final two games for Harvard this weekend.

When she's gone, what a void she'll leave.

Of course, the Crimson does have some other weapons. Junior Sarah Downing's three tallies within five minutes against Dartmouth wasn't so shabby, and both Downing and sophomore Sarah Winters join Berkery on the list of top fifteen overall scorers.

Princeton's Jenny Bristow garnered Defensive Player of the Week honors as she held Penn State's star midfielder Ann Kolongowski to one assist.

Bristow also helped the Tigers out on the offensive end, tallying three goals and one assist against the Nittany Lions. Bristow is fourth on the overall scoring list for the season with 36 goals and 12 assists.

Upcoming Harvard Games:

5/15 vs. Virginia (NCAA Tourney) WOMEN'S LACROSSE FINAL STANDINGS IVY LEAGUE TEAM  W  L HARVARD  5  1 Princeton  5  1 Dartmouth  4  2 Cornell  3  3 Brown  2  4 Pennsylvania  2  4 Yale  0  6