April 18
Chapel Hill Tigers Felled by Lady Falcons, 14-12

The Tigers scored first, but Kay Kay Keung, on a run into the Tiger's den, made sure their lead lasted less than a minute. When Deirdre O'Connor put one in on a weave and spin to pull ahead, the Falcons never looked back. In a beautifully played transition, Jenna Lang passed to Alannah Garcia, who passed to Deirdre O'Connor to assist Brittany Ruppert for the next point. Taking a pass from Garcia, Ruppert did a spin-and-run to the net for the next point. On a penalty shot, O'Connor ran to the net and switched hands at the last moment to up the score 5-1. A time-out seemed to have aroused the Tigers - they put the next point in almost immediately. But Rachel Chapla, on a pass from Keung from Ruppert from the draw, slammed one in at the crease to widen the lead again. Coming to life, the Tigers put 3 more points in quickly. A crowd-pleasing intercept by Christina Demetros gave Keung another chance to score, but the shot bounced off the cage. Moments later, a pass from Hagen Donahue connected to Kelly Reiser and found the back of the net. Keung and Kelly Reiser made exciting shot attempts, Casey Reiser wowed the crowed with an intercept, and Cheryl Schlitter made a dramatic save against a penalty shot. With just seconds left in the half, Casey Reiser drew a charge to regain ball control. A pass to sister Kelly resulted in a connection to Ruppert for the last point of the half, 8-6.

Ruppert started the second half quickly by scooping up a ground ball and passing to Chapla for the next point. The Tigers stepped it up with 2 more points. Determined not lose the lead, Ruppert, on a ground ball, turned, ran and shot for the next point. After the next Tiger point, Ruppert made a solo run to increase the lead. Logan Kaznowski followed suit with her own solo run minutes later to widen the lead 12-9. O'Connor, running in the next penalty shot, bounced in the next point. Dana Josephson took a pass from Chapla, then ran smack into a streak (or ambush) of Tigers (look it up... that's what you call it) and seemed to confuse her opponents when she froze in her tracks at the crease. Where did the ball go, the crowd wondered. Did Josephson still have it? Apparently she did and snuck in a stealth shot for her first Green Hope point ever! (Congratulations, Dana!) In an attempt to catch up, the Tigers put 3 more points on the scoreboard. Shot attempts by Ruppert, Kaznowski and Chapla, as well as an interception and several goalie saves by Katie Worsdale, got the crowd cheering. A last second save by Katie Worsdale ensured that the game ended at 14-12.

Contributing to the defense wall were Christina Demetros, Ali Brown, Mandy Blackburn and Shannon Leonard, who made exciting blocks against shooters and cutters.

Contributed by Ri-Shea Schlitter

Photos contributed by Scott Brown