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Rachel Friedman '13
Rachel Friedman '13

Tess Petesch '13 scored with 13.1 seconds left in the second half to lift nationally ranked No. 8 Colby College to a 6-5 win against No. 3 Hamilton College in a 2011 NCAA Division III regional semifinal at the SUNY Cortland Stadium Complex on May 14.

The Colby Mules (15-4 overall) advance to the regional finals and will play No. 4 Cortland on Sunday, May 15, at 1 p.m. The Red Dragons defeated No. 13 Tufts University 13-7 earlier Saturday afternoon. The winner of Sunday's game moves on to the national semifinals at Adelphi University in Garden City, N.Y., on Saturday, May 21.

The Mules will be playing in the regional finals for the second straight year. Colby defeated Cortland in the regional semifinals at Hamilton in 2010 before the Mules lost to the Continentals in the next round. Hamilton ended Colby's season in two of the last three NCAA championships. The Mules defeated the Continentals for the first time in five meetings all-time.

Kate Pistel '13, who assisted on the game-winning goal, tied the score at 5-5 with 2:29 remaining. Lauren Sokol '12 won the ensuing draw control for the Continentals, who held possession for the next two minutes. Pistel forced a turnover with 25 seconds left, picked up the ground ball and sprinted into the Mules' offensive zone.

Pistel passed to Petesch and Petesch made her way to just outside the middle of the crease, where she beat Dewi Caswell '14 with a shot from point-blank range. The goal was just the 10th for Petesch this year. Colby's Katharine Eddy '14 won the final draw and ran out the clock.

Pistel finished with two goals and one assist. Lindsey McKenna '14 paced the Colby offense with three goals, Claire Donegan '12 was credited with two assists and Alex Mintz '14 had one.

Sarah Warnke '11 made six saves. Pistel added four ground balls and three caused turnovers to lead a stifling defense that allowed one shot in the final 16 minutes. Meg Mooney '13 and Eddy won two draw controls apiece.

Rachel Friedman '13 had two goals and one assist for Hamilton. Friedman finished the year with a school-record 70 goals. Libby Schultz '12 scored twice, Sarah Bray '11 tallied her 42nd goal and Katie D'Antonio '14 picked up two assists. Caswell stopped seven shots and lost for the first time in goal in eight decisions. Sokol ended up with four ground balls and three draw controls. Meg Pengue '12 chipped in three ground balls and three caused turnovers.

Things looked good early for the Continentals as they jumped out to a 4-0 lead. Friedman scored on a free-position shot and added an unassisted goal on a nice individual effort with 21:40 remaining. Friedman fed Schultz for a 3-0 advantage with 14:15 left. D'Antonio -- off a free-position attempt -- passed to a wide-open Bray beside the goal and she converted for the four-goal cushion with 5:52 remaining.

The Mules finally got on the scoreboard 24 seconds later on a goal by Pistel. McKenna made it 4-2 with 4:54 to play in the first half. Hamilton took that two-goal lead into the break.

Schultz put the Continentals back up by three goals with her 36th 2:40 into the second half. The goal proved to be the last for Hamilton, which was averaging 14.11 per game coming into the weekend.

McKenna started Colby's rally with 20:13 left, and made the score 5-4 on her 42nd goal with 10:02 remaining. Pistel tied the score with her 27th goal.

The Mules held a 21-16 shot advantage. The Continentals edged Colby 18-16 in ground balls, and 7-6 on draws. Hamilton committed eight of its 13 turnovers in the second half.

The Continentals (18-2) had their win streak end at 16 games. Hamilton is in the NCAA championship for the fifth straight year and the seventh time in program history. The Continentals -- 13-6 all-time in this event -- won the national title in 2008, reached the semifinals in 2009 and lost in the championship game last year.

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