60 Minutes From History

SELINSGROVE, Pa. - The Susquehanna University women's lacrosse team has one more hurdle to clear before they can claim the first Middle Atlantic Conference championship in the 11-year history of the program.

However, standing in their way is Drew University, which is ranked 17th in this week's IWLCA Division III poll and has won each of the last seven MAC titles - including wins over the Crusaders in the 1998 and 1999 MAC Championship games.

The two teams will face off for the MAC title on Saturday at 1 p.m. on the West Lacrosse Field with a berth in the 2001 NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse Tournament at stake. The Crusaders have never appeared in the NCAA tournament, while last season Drew made its first appearance since 1988 and lost 9-8 to Gettysburg in the opening round.

Susquehanna (12-4 overall) advanced to the title game with a 6-4 win over Widener in semifinal action on Wednesday afternoon, while the Rangers (13-4) defeated Scranton 10-7 in the other semifinal. The teams finished MAC play with identical 6-1 league marks, but the Crusaders earned the top seed and the home-field advantage throughout the MAC playoffs by virtue of an 11-8 victory in Selinsgrove on March 31. It was Susquehanna's first-ever win over Drew following nine straight losses.

The two teams have met in each of the previous two MAC championship game, with Drew winning 18-1 in 1998 and 14-0 in 1999 in Madison, N.J. The MAC did not hold a postseason championship game last year, when the Rangers defeated the Crusaders 15-8 in the regular season en route to a perfect 7-0 league mark.

The Crusaders are led by junior attack Krista O'Brien, who broke her own single-season school record with 48 goals and is the career leader in goals with 126 in 47 career games. Four different players have netted at least 20 goals this season as part of an offense that is averaging 10.39 goals per game.

In goal, sophomore Giulia Umile has enjoyed a stellar campaign, ranking eighth in Division III in save percentage at 64.3 percent and 19th in goals against average at 7.52.

The Rangers are paced by the high-scoring trio of Kara Fetter, Katie Woods and Tara O'Flaherty, who have accounted for 147 of the team's 217 goals this season. Fetter has tallied 54 goals in her freshman season, while seniors Woods and O'Flaherty have combined for 48 and 45 goals, respectively.