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Mix Cinderella with Lazarus and sprinkle in a little Lady Luck. And -- presto -- you have two of the four teams playing for a field hockey national championship this weekend in Norfolk, Virginia.Unseeded Delaware stunned top-seeded Duke and unseeded Princeton topped Virginia in the quarterfinals to join stalwarts North Carolina and Connecticut -- minor surprises by comparison -- in the obliterated bracket.Surreal, is how Princeton sophomore striker and magician Sophia Tornetta describes it. And indeed thats one word, along with quirky and improbable, that best describe the journey to the 2016 final four for half the bracket.Delaware, the Colonial Athletic Association champion for the fourth straight season, boasts a 21-2 record. Turns out the Blue Hens, fueled by the nations leading scorer Greta Nauck, arent just a nice little mid-major ready to take a bow in the first round. Had they not won the CAA tournament, they would have surely snagged an at-large bid (yes, it would have been the one that went to Princeton, admits Tigers coach Carla Tagliente). With victories against Virginia and Albany, along with running the table in conference play, Delaware had its best season in program history, but the final four still seemed like a reach for a team that hadnt done it since 1982, especially given the ACC powerhouses theyd have to beat to get there.The Blue Hens first blanked Louisville 1-0, despite being outshot 11-4.Then came Duke, a program Delaware had never beaten.Delaware trailed the Blue Devils 2-0 with less than 10 minutes to play in Durham. Warm up the bus?We rose from the dead, coach Rolf van de Kerkhof said.Scoring off a corner, Nauck trimmed the deficit to one in the 62nd minute and, after a Duke timeout, the Blue Hens drew even and stayed that way until the end of regulation, forcing the 7-on-7 overtime. Before three minutes had elapsed in the sudden-victory period, Nauck had fired off two shots.The second one is why Delaware is in Norfolk this weekend.The German sophomore insists she struggles with confidence, sometimes as it relates to the English language, as in pronouncing her Ws and Vs correctly, and sometimes, believe it or not, in her offensive aggressiveness.Yet in that moment, she felt like Superwoman, controlling a breakaway to slip past two defenders and blast the shot past Duke goalie Sammi Steele, who had emerged from the cage.Usually Im not good at situations like that, beating other people, Nauck said. This time I told myself. I will score this goal. I will beat them. When I saw the goalie coming toward me, I lifted it, and those few seconds, seeing the ball go toward the goal cage and watching the goalie, they seemed like forever.Please go in, she prayed.When it did, Nauck sprinted to find her own goalie, Emmeline Oltmans, brilliant in the face of 23 shots, hugged her first and then let out a shout that became a scream practically loud enough for those back in the Delaware Valley to hear.A Dutchman, Van de Kerkhof has the professional relationships that allow him to recruit overseas. Nauck turned down other top programs to sign with Delaware without setting foot on campus. She is one of six players on the Delaware roster from Europe.The charming college town of Newark, Delaware, which boasts state-of-the-art facilities for field hockey, borders on Pennsylvania, where successful club field hockey teams are as common as pretzel rolls and fresh Tastykakes. The best field hockey in the country is played within four hours of here, said Van de Kerkhof, a former Michigan State coach.His pitch to recruits is simple. Come to a great academic school, Mom and Dad can see you play, and benefit from the New York/D.C. corridor, fertile ground for professional internship opportunities.If you dream big and youre willing to work hard at it, great things can happen, Van de Kerkhof said. One of the reasons I left Michigan State was that I thought Delaware was a sleeping giant; you just have to feed her, raise her, educate her, coach her up.Unlike Delaware, Princeton didnt put together a remarkable season. In fact, by program standards, it was disappointing -- a 10-7 regular season had senior Cat Caro folding my body parts every sort of way while watching the selection show in hopes of Princeton receiving that at-large bid, a first for the Ivy League.The Tigers needed it because Princeton didnt win the Ivy for the first time in five years. In fact, until this season, the Tigers had lost the league only once since 2004. While they have a seasoned coach in Tagliente, she is only in her first year with the program; Kristen Holmes-Winn, who guided the team to its only NCAA title in 2012, stepped down in July to be part of a new sports performance and technology company.But once the bid was announced, these Tigers wiped the slate clean. Princeton played what Tagliente regards as its best game of the season, upsetting Penn State 2-1 to open the NCAA tournament at State College, Pennsylvania.The Tigers then faced a Virginia team led by ACC offensive player of the year Tara Vittese that shut out them out 2-0 on Sept. 16.Tied 2-2 in the final seconds last Sunday, the weary teams seemed destined for overtime. But the chaotic final seconds unraveled into the unlikeliest of finishes.It appeared as if time had expired, but neither team heard a horn.After the ball hit a Virginia defender, Caro directed it Tornettas way and the sophomore laced it to the back of the cage. The Tigers celebrated. Game over? Did the goal count? The Cavaliers thought they were going to overtime.A conference of officials confirmed a 3-2 Princeton victory, leaving the Cavaliers, who had outshot Princeton 13-3, shocked.I was preparing myself for overtime, but I wasnt giving up hope completely, Tornetta said. It rolled in front of me. I told myself to hit it toward the goal, anything can happen, and I saw the ball hit the back of net. My next reaction was to look at the bench and, all of the sudden, I see the entire team from ear to ear, smiles on their faces, tears running from their eyes. It was one of the most surreal and coolest moments I have been a part of.Tagliente was preparing for the extra period, too. I turned around to grab my board to start writing an overtime lineup, she said. I turned back around and Sophias on the ground shooting the ball into the net and Im frozen holding my board. One of my assistants is charging to me and yelling, We did it!Walking into an established program late in the summer was daunting for Tagliente, but before she knew everyones names, the Tigers wanted to talk goals. The consensus was no one wanted it to be like last year and Tagliente kept hearing, I dont want . . .Talk about what you want and come back, Tagliente instructed.The next time Tagliente asked, Caro said, We want to win a national championship.Tagliente just about dropped the marker she was holding. Then she remembered she was at Princeton with players who yearn to leave a legacy.A national title doesnt seem so crazy now. Dont look at the record, Tagliente said. But if you do, youll see the Tigers lost to North Carolina, Duke and Maryland, but the scores in all those games were 2-1. They beat Delaware 4-2 on Sept. 11.And now theyre here. Its Princeton vs. Delaware at 4:45 p.m. Friday following North Carolina vs. Connecticut at 2 p.m.Its the first time since the tournament started in 1975 that not one of the top four seeds has advanced to the final four, said Chip Rogers, who has kept a statistical history of every NCAA field hockey tournament since its inception. His book is the official record book of the sport.Whatever happens, either Delaware or Princeton will be in the 2016 national championship against North Carolina, a six-time champion, or UConn, a four-time champion. Whose ride will continue? We find out Friday. Clark Gillies Islanders Jersey .J. -- Pitcher Carl Pavano is retiring after 14 major league seasons. Custom New York Islanders Jerseys . The news was first reported on Gonzalezs Twitter account and confirmed by the Rockies. Gonzalez has a six-week window before position players have their first workout at spring training in Arizona. http://www.islanderssale.com/authentic-mathew-barzal-islanders-jersey/ . The Montreal Canadiens announced on Friday that the veteran forward will return to the teams line-up on Saturday night when the Habs visit the Nashville Predators. Leo Komarov Islanders Jersey .Y. -- Buffalo Bills coach Doug Marrone has drawn on his Syracuse connections once again by hiring Rob Moore to take over as receivers coach. Anthony Beauvillier Islanders Jersey . The 28-year-old from Calgary matched his career best after missing just one shot in his two rounds of shooting in the mens 10-kilometre sprint competition. Smith finished in 23 minutes 15. ST. LOUIS -- At least the Milwaukee Brewers showed some fight.Stephen Piscottys second grand slam of the season propelled the St. Louis Cardinals to a 9-8, rain-soaked, elongated victory Sunday and a weekend sweep, but the Brewers made the ending suspenseful.It was 8-2 and rain delays and everything, and we put the tying run 90 feet away and certainly had a chance to tie it up, manager Craig Counsell said. Its an easy game to kind of stop, but they dont make excuses for anything.Brandon Moss had a go-ahead double in a two-run fifth inning, and rookie Aledmys Diaz hit his 11th homer. The Cardinals lead the season series 7-2, with many of the games lopsided.Im sure were not the only team that struggles against the Cardinals, said Ryan Braun, who had a season-high four hits and made a nice catch at the left-field wall to rob Diaz of an extra-base hity. Theyre fundamentally sound. They dont make mistakes. They dont beat themselves.The Cardinals won the first two games of the series by a combined 10-1.We certainly havent done enough in all phases to beat them, Counsell said. Against any of these better teams, youve got to do a lot right and were just not doing enough against these guys.The series finale was looking like another comfortable victory for St. Louis, ahead by six in the sixth. The Brewers scored two in the seventh and four in the ninth to make it very interesting.It would have been an amazing win if we came all the way back, Braun said. But, obviously, its a good sign that we continue to fight and continue to battle to the end.The start was delayed by 1 hour, 20 minutes by rain, there was a 14-minute stoppage in the middle of the sixth and a third delay of 55 minutes in the top of the Brewers two-run seventh. Perhaps a few thousand of a crowd of 41,148 stuck it out for a game that lasted 3:48 and ended with puddles everywheree.ddddddddddddPiscotty is 5 for 9 with 13 RBI with the bases loaded this season, including his first career slam on May 27 at Washington, and for his career hes 8 for 15 with 18 RBI. He connected on a full count against Blaine Boyer with two outs in the sixth for an 8-2 lead.Michael Wacha (5-7) allowed two runs and nine hits and escaped his fifth and final inning when Aaron Hill grounded into a double play on a 3-1 count with the bases loaded. Kirk Nieuwenhuis hit a two-run double in a four-run ninth and the tying and go-ahead runs were on base when Seung Hwan Oh struck out pinch-hitter Martin Maldonado for his second save.Chase Anderson (4-9) has lost three straight starts, allowing 15 earned runs in 10 2/3 innings and was pulled after his fifth walk, with one out in the fifth. Jacob Barnes gave up Moss RBI double for the lead and Jhonny Peraltas sacrifice fly.Ramon Flores two-run double put the Brewers ahead in the fourth.Milwaukee is 13-26 on the road with one series win and four splits in 13 attempts, and finished the first half 35-46.BREWERS MOVEAfter the game OF Keon Broxton was optioned to Triple-A Colorado Springs and INF Will Middlebrooks contract was selected from Colorado Springs. LHP Chris Capuano was transferred to the 60-day disabled list from the 15-day DL.SURPRISE STICKAnderson, who entered a career .077 hitter, singled in the second.ROSENTHALS WOESTrevor Rosenthal, who lost his closer job about a week ago, faced four hitters in the seventh, retired none of them and was charged with two runs.UP NEXTMilwaukee is 9-2 in starts by Junior Guerra (5-1) entering an 11:05 a.m. matchup against Max Scherzer (9-5, 3.30) at Washington. The right-hander will be facing the Nationals for the first time. ' ' '