GOLDEN FLYERS HEADED TO SALISBURY
Nazareth (13-2) is making fourth straight NCAA appearance
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ROCHESTER, N.Y. (May 7, 2007) -- The wound suffered from Sunday's 9-8 overtime loss to St. John Fisher in the Empire 8 championship game didn't seem nearly as deep for the Nazareth women's lacrosse team later that evening when the first-round pairings were announced for the NCAA Division III Tournament.

Even though the Golden Flyers surrendered the Empire 8 Conference's automatic bid to Fisher, Nazareth was able to secure one of five Pool C at-large berths to the 24-team tournament that gets underway Wednesday.

At 13-2 overall and ranked 18th nationally in Division III, Nazareth received a first-round bye and will travel to Salisbury, Md. to play its first game Saturday at 2:30 p.m. against Colorado College (10-5), a 15-9 winner over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (15-1) in a first-round game Wednesday. Host Salisbury (18-1) plays Saturday at 11:30 a.m. against Washington & Lee (15-3). The winners will play again Sunday at 1 p.m. for a berth in the Final Four that will take place May 19-20 at William Smith College in Geneva.

Nazareth is making its sixth NCAA Tournament appearance in eight seasons for head coach Sue Behme, who has a record of 104-33 at Nazareth.

GETTING THERE: Nazareth won the regular-season conference title with a 7-0 record in Empire 8 games and dominated RIT in a 20-3 victory over the Tigers in the first round of the E8 Tournament last Saturday. Then in the championship game against Fisher, Nazareth dominated the game statistically with advantages in shots (42-19), ground balls (34-25) and draw controls (14-7), but Fisher stayed close and got the game-winning score with 1:24 left in overtime to defeat the Golden Flyers for the first time in 10 tries. That loss left the Golden Flyers holding their collective breath until the NCAA pairings were announced Sunday evening. Nazareth gained one of five Pool C at-large berths that are reserved for deserving teams that fail to gain automatic berths in their conferences.

PLAYERS TO WATCH: Nazareth's roster includes six seniors who have all played significant roles in the team's success. Seniors Tia Morgia (Watertown HS/Watertown, NY), Beth Quartier (Cicero-North Syracuse HS/Cicero, NY) and Caitlin Zimmer (East Rochester HS/East Rochester, NY) are the Golden Flyers' top three scorers. Morgia has 50 points on 34 goals and 16 assists (all team highs) and ranks seventh in all-time scoring with 153 points on 90 goals and 63 assists. . . Quartier is second on the team with 35 points on 25 goals and 10 assists and ranks 10th all-time with 113 points on 75 goals and 38 assists. . . Zimmer is the Golden Flyers' top scoring midfielder with 27 points on 19 goals and eight assists. . . Junior Allison Bayer (Corning East HS/Corning, NY) is another offensive threat with 17 goals while freshmen Jennifer Young (Marcellus HS/Marcellus, NY) and Nora Davis (Bishop Ludden HS/Syracuse, NY) are the top first-year scorers with 15 goals each. . . The other seniors are starting defenders Sarah Mack (Cortland HS/Cortland, NY) and Liz Wells (Ithaca HS/Ithaca, NY) and reserve attacker Jessica McArdle (Lancaster HS/Depew, NY). Wells (pictured) was a first-team E8 all-star in 2006 and has contributed to one of the stingiest defensive units in Division III. The Golden Flyers have yielded an average of 6.12 goals per game in front of sophomore goalie Maria Fusco (Immaculate Heart Central/Watertown, NY), who has started all 15 games and has a 5.72 goals-against avwerage and a .566 save percentage.

HEAD COACH SUE BEHME: A native of Syracuse, Behme was an All-American in both soccer and lacrosse at Cortland. She helped the Red Dragons' soccer team to a national title there in '92 and competed in the North-South Senior all-star game for lacrosse in '93. She coached soccer and lacrosse at Geneseo for four years before coming to Nazareth in the fall of 1999. Now in her eighth season at Nazareth, she has a record of 104-33 (.759), including this season's 13-2 mark. She has been honored as Empire 8 Coach of the Year four times (2000, 2002, 2005, 2006) and last year was chosen NYSWCAA and Empire Region Coach of the Year.

NAZARETH IN THE NCAAs: Nazareth is making its fourth straight NCAA Tournament appearance and its sixth overall in the last eight seasons. The Golden Flyers are 3-5 in tournament games. In 2006, Nazareth entered post-season play unbeaten at 14-0 and then lost to Franklin & Marshall, 10-7, in its opening game. . . Saturday's meeting will be the first-ever between Nazareth and Colorado College in women's lacrosse. The Golden Flyers played Salisbury once, losing 18-13 in 2000; they have lost to Washington & Lee twice (8-7 in 2002 and 10-7 in 2003).