Title Weekend Kept Seamans on the Move

 (Towson Athletics)

By: Keith Mills

Last Friday afternoon, Tony and Guri Seaman hosted a party at their Baltimore County home for dozens of their fellow parents of the University of Pennsylvania women's lacrosse team before heading to Johnny Unitas Stadium for the NCAA women’s national semifinals.

Tony Seaman, the men’s lacrosse coach at Towson University, usually spends Memorial Day weekend at the men’s Final Four, which was played this year at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. However, on this night, Seaman was not a coach but a father and not stalking the sidelines at Unitas Stadium but sitting in the stands, watching his daughter Barb and the Quakers play Duke in the first semifinal game.

"It's a big thrill," Tony Seaman said. "It's sometimes tough getting to see her play because I'm coaching here, so this is great."

Penn lost to Northwestern, 10-6, in the championship game Sunday, but the Quakers' dramatic double-overtime win Friday sent Tony and his wife to New England and back in a whirlwind 72-hour men's and women's college lacrosse trifecta.

After Penn beat Duke, 9-8, in double overtime Friday night, the Seamans boarded a plane early Saturday for New Hampshire, where they jumped in a rental car and drove straight to Gillette Stadium for the men’s semifinals. Sunday morning, they flew back to Baltimore for Penn's title game against Northwestern.

Barb Seaman is a sophomore attack/midfielder for Penn, a student in the prestigious Wharton School of Business, a graduate of Roland Park Country School in north Baltimore and one of 20 former area high school players who played in last weekend’s women’s Final Four at Towson.

The Final Four's local list included:

Penn: Barb Seaman and Katie Mazer (Bryn Mawr).

Northwestern: Meghan Plunkett (Maryvale Prep), Brooke Matthews (Friends), Kirstyn Atkinson (McDonogh), Fallon McGraw (St. Mary’s) and Casey Donohoe (Notre Dame Prep).

Duke: Kimberly Pastrana (St. Mary’s), Caroline Spearman (McDonogh), Aiyana Newton (Park), Jess Adam (Severn), Megan Del Monte (St. Paul’s School for Girls), Allie Johnson (Annapolis), Miller Hughes (Roland Park) and Regan Bosch (Severn).

Syracuse: Stephanie Bissett (Mount Hebron), Breanna Stiff (North Carroll), Christina Gibson (North Harford), Shannon Brushe (Catonsville) and Christina Dove (Bel Air).

Dove is one of three area starters for coach Gary Gait at Syracuse, and in the semifinal loss to Northwestern, the sophomore from Bel Air High School was one of the best players on the field, using her speed and quickness to keep the Orange in the game.

A three-sport standout at Bel Air, Dove led Harford County in scoring in 2005 and 2006 and capped off her 2008 postseason with a goal and three assists against Northwestern. She scored five goals with two assists against Towson May 11 and added three goals and two assists in the quarterfinal win over North Carolina one week later.

Gibson and Brushe start on defense. Gibson is a senior from North Harford High, where she also played basketball and field hockey, while Brushe is a senior from Catonsville who led the Comets to the 2004 state finals.

Del Monte, Johnson and Adam start for Duke, coached by Kerstin Kimmel, a 1993 Maryland graduate. Del Monte is a junior from St. Paul's School for Girls, where she finished her sensational high school career with 119 goals and 110 assists. The Baltimore County Player of the Year in 2004, Del Monte finished the year with 41 goals and 25 assists, including two goals and four assists in Duke's 9-7 win over Maryland in the quarterfinals.

Johnson went to Broadneck, where her sister Karri Ellen is now a senior and member of the Under-19 U.S. national team. An academic All-American in high school, Johnson teams with Del Monte on the Duke attack.

A member of the 2003 U-19 world championship team, Adam was a high school All-American. She scored 18 goals this season from her midfield position.

Mazer is the only local starter for Karin Brower's Quakers. She played lacrosse, soccer, basketball and field hockey at Bryn Mawr and has been the glue to one of the nation's premier defenses at Penn.

When Kelly Amonte Hiller took over at Northwestern seven years ago, she made recruiting Baltimore players a priority. It has paid off.

Plunkett and Donohoe both start at midfield while Matthews gives the Wildcats a spark off the bench. Plunkett is a junior from Maryvale Prep. She scored her third goal of the year in Sunday's championship win over Penn. Donohoe played for coach Mary Bartel at Notre Dame Prep and helped the Blazers win the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland championship. Donohoe is a teammate of Plunkett on the Skywalkers Club Lacrosse team. She scored 36 goals this year for Northwestern.

Matthews has had a productive postseason, scoring two goals in the quarterfinal win over Princeton and another in the first-round win over Notre Dame.

Issue 3.22: May 28, 2008