W. Lax National Championship: Northwestern 10 Penn 6 (FINAL)

FINAL NORTHWESTERN 10 PENN 6

The game ends with Penn hanging onto the ball for the last six minutes of the game give or take. The dream season is over for the Quakers, but they are the second best team in the nation, still nothing to sneeze out.

NU meanwhile is now the four-time National Champion.

3:31 Penn 6 NU 10 Penn just can't get the ball. They had a great chance to do so, but they couldn't come up with the grounball. Instead Nielsen gets the ball, runs around the back of the net, gets hit on the head, yet keeps going and then scores the wrap around. That might clinch it for the Wildcats. 5:22 Penn 6 NU 9

Northwestern calls its last timeout. Can Penn comeback and win? Yes. Will they? It's not looking too good.

6:43 Penn 6 NU 9

Northwestern is just running out the clock it seems, and a timeout is called. The PA announcer says that tonight's attendance is 6,125, a new record for an NCAA championship game. In the press box someone just announced that Lanthrop's 11 saves are a season-high.

8:26 Penn 6 NU 9

One Penn shot sails high, and then another hits off the post. Those two might decide the game.

11:04 Penn 6 NU 9

A Penn goal is called off because of a foul called before the play. Too bad you can't decline the penalty. Lanthrop saves the ensuing penalty.

11:30 Penn 6 NU 9

Nielsen decides to do some scoring of her own, earning her second goal of the night off a Frank pass.

13:43 Penn 6 NU 8 Lanthrop makes her first mistake of the night. Going for a loose ball, she doesn't come up with possession, but guess who does? Penn's Rachel Manson. She shoots it into the empty net, and Penn's within two.

14:45 Penn 5 NU 8

Manson gets a great stick-check, then she draws a foul, drawing boos from the Northwestern fans. There's a media timeout, and Penn will get possession once the game get back under way. They really need to score here.

15:20 Penn 5 NU 8 Senior Melissa Lehman gets a free-position for Penn, but the high shot is saved by Lanthrop.

16:00 Penn 5 NU 8

Penn gets that stop.

17:11 Penn 5 NU 8

Penn turns it over after coming close to getting off a shot. A quick defensive stop is their top priority.

18:07 Penn 5 NU 8

DeLuca gets her second goal of the game.

20:21 Penn 4 NU 8

Kocis gets a bouncing goal that's unassisted.

20:52 Penn 3 NU 8

A media timeout is called, as Penn will have possession from behind the NU goal after the break. Penn hasn't done any of the things I said it had to do to win. Things just aren't looking too good.

22:36 Penn 3 NU 8

Before I can even finish writing the previous entry, Kristin Finch scores her second goal of the year for NU. This is Penn's largest deficit faced all year. They trailed by four twice before this game. Penn coach Karin Brower calls her team's first timeout.

22:57 Penn 3 NU 7

The nearly-unstoppable combination of Nielsen to Bowen strikes yet again, as Bowen earns the hat trick off yet another bouncing shot. Four goals is going to be a tough margin to overcome with the lack of defensive stops.

24:08 Penn 3 NU 6

Bowen shoots low and Waxman can't get a save. It's the Rochester, N.Y. native's 80th goal of the year. The Wildcats refuse to let the Quakers get within one.

25:25 Penn 3 NU 5

Spiro earns a free-position shot and then scores in the top right corner.

26:08 Penn 2 NU 5

Another save by Lanthrop. She's got my theoretical vote for MVP.

27:27 Penn 2 NU 5

A crease violation is called against NU, waving off a goal. Penn then does get a clear. About time.

28:40 Penn 2 NU 5 Bowen gets called with a charge, yet Penn can't get the clear. Uh oh

Halftime Penn 2 NU 5

At least it's not as bad as it was last year. In last year's Final Four matchup Penn trailed 8-0 at the half. Well today they're down only 5-2, and in fact they trailed the Wildcats back on April 27 when Penn eventually won. However, they were only down two at 7-5, and in fact had scored the last goal of the half. Tonight, however, Northwestern is the one with momentum at the break. Lanthrop's save at the buzzer was critical, as it clearly gave the Wildcats some momentum.

Looking at the stat sheet, Northwestern isn't quite as dominant as I had thought. Although they are dominating two key stats (they lead in shots 13-7 and draw controls 5-3), they have only one more groundball (7-6), and have equaled Penn in saves (5) and clears (5-7). Furthermore, they have more fouls than Penn (7-5), more turnovers (9-7) and a worse free-position shot percentage (0-1 vs 1-3). Yet the one area that they're dominating in is time of possession. Unfortunately the NCAA does not track that stat, but I'd venture a guess that Penn has only had the ball for seven minutes out of the first 30.

What must Penn do to win? It's pretty clear: They must win the draws and keep hammering in shots against Lanthrop. So far the junior goalkeeper has been pretty dominant, but she did give up 11 goals to Penn the first time the two teams played. And on the defensive end, Penn must be consistent at getting clears. Yes they were 5-7 in the first, but both of those bothced clears led to goals. Take those two off the board, and this game clearly could be Penn's.

That said, Penn can't give up all hope. In all of Penn's close games they seem to have a poor half a great one. Considering against NU the first time they were outscored 7-5 in the first, then blanketed the Wildcats 6-0 in the second, Penn clearly could come out here and win (though I doubt they'll shut out the Wildcats). That said, winning still will be hard. In just 30 (game) minutes we'll know whether Penn has done this tall task.

:00 Penn 2 NU 5

Here's another stat Penn has been poor at: groundballs. It seems that any 50-50 ball is going NU's way, and any that Penn actually comes up with was only after Penn had dropped the ball.

Meredith Frank scores for NU, yet again pushing the NU lead to three.

Penn senior Rachel Manson is fouled as the buzzer sounds, but the refs add a second on. She gets a free position shot. Lanthrop saves it, however. She's clearly been a top player tonight. 3:41 Penn 2 NU 4

DeLuca shoots but gets shutdown by Lanthrop.

6:08 Penn 2 NU 4 Penn causes another turnover yet can't capitalize off of a Chelsea Kocis pass that gets broken up.

7:26 Penn 2 NU 4

Penn finally gets a shot off, as sophomore Emma Spiro gets a shot off, but it doesn't go far, as Sara Harrington hits Spiro's stick at the release point. After a turnover on either side Penn's Kaitlyn Lombardo gets a free position shot from directly at the top of the eight meter crease. And she fires a great shot to the top shelf. One-third of Northwestern's lead is cut.

11:28 Penn 1 NU 4

Penn keeps turning it over/not finishing clears. And this dooms them as Nielsen gets yet another assist by passing to Katrina Dowd. Dowd grabs the pass directly in front of Waxman and rips off a shot. And just like that Penn finds itself down by three.

13:51 Penn 1 NU 3 NU goalkeeper Morgan Lanthrop gets a nice save off an Allison Ambrozy free position shot.

16: 10 Penn 1 NU 3

Bowen gets another goal off a great pass from Nielsen. Immediately following, NU gets yet another draw. Guess what, Penn's back on defense. They need a stop. Well they get one since there's an offensive foul on Danielle Spencer.

18:34 Penn 1 NU 2

Nice save by Waxman. Penn's still playing too much defense. NU's offensive philosophy has clearly been to shield the Penn defenders by screening a lot of their top options such as Nielsen and Bowen. 20:08 Penn 1 NU 2

Bowen gets a great pass to a wide-open Meghan Plunkett who scorches it straight into the goal. Just like against Duke, Penn has let an early 1-0 lead disappear.

21:36 Penn 1 NU 1 (Media Timeout)

Goalkeeper Waxman makes a great save, but the Quakers can't get the clear. So far in eight-plus minutes Penn has been on defense for the majority. With the potent NU offense, any more time in the Quakers' third and the Wildcats are bound to run up the score. Penn must improve on its clears.

25:23 Penn 1 NU 1

NU's Hilary Bowen gets a free position shot but misses. Good news for Penn, who gave up several free-position goals on Friday. But NU keeps possession. Eventually Hannah Nielsen rips a shot while sprinting around the edge of the crease to avoid Penn's Tarah Kirnan. Sarah Waxman can't save it, and Northwestern has now equalized the game.

28:58 left in first half Penn 1 Northwestern 0

Penn got the first draw, which clearly bodes well for this all-important stat. And after turning it over, the Quakers get it back. Sophomore Ali DeLuca sprint down the field and shoot a left-handed shot down low for the game's opening tally.

Welcome yet again to the 2008 NCAA Division-I Women's Lacrosse Tournament from Johnny Unitas Stadium in Towson, Md. Today's final pits the No. 2 Penn Quakers (17-1) against the top-seeded Northwestern Wildcats (20-1). In case you didn't get a chance to do so already, you can read my preview of tonight's game right here.

It's been quite the journey for the women's lacrosse team, who had a decent 10-6 record in 2006 and then made the Final Four last year with a record of 16-1 before getting demolished by the Wildcats in the national semifinal. This year saw even higher levels of success, as the squad beat the Wildcats 11-7, earned its first ever national No. 1 ranking, and made it to the National Championship game for the first time ever.

In fact they're the first Penn team to make it to an NCAA final. So this game clearly is one of the biggest games in Penn athletics history. As such the Penn Athletics administration is in full show today. Athletic Director Steve Bilsky shared an elevator with me, even complementing the DP's coverage of the team. And for the first time this season, all four of the Athletic Communications personnel are in attendance at a Penn sporting event. I've also been told that several Penn coaches are in attendance, including volleyball coach Kerry Carr, softball coach Leslie King and women's track coach Gwen Harris, although I'll admit I didn't have time to look for them in the stands.

Of course Penn Athletics representatives aren't the only ones here. There is quite a crowd, although I'd say Northwestern probably has more fans than Penn does. Even if that's not actually true, it certainly appears so since Northwestern fans are much better at one thing than Penn: dressing in the same colors. All Northwestern fans are wearing purple, so there's a sea of purple on one side of the field. Even though the other side of the field is clearly made up of Penn supporters, they're not wearing a solid blue or red, so it's not as visually impressive. Regardless, I'm sure it'll be a loud crowd for both teams.

As I have several times this season, I'll provide in-game updates of the match, but again I'm limited by NCAA regulations to only six times a half, plus once at halftime. Of course on Friday I was a little lax (no pun intended) about that during the game's crazy final 10 minutes. So I'll try to follow the rules better today. But no guarantees, NCAA Media Enforcement Bureau, or whoever it is that monitors blogs.