But it took a little bit of luck and plenty of smarts for the Pointers to clinch their first-ever NCAA Division III final four appearance Saturday with a 2-0 win over Salisbury State.

�It�s just a group of players who just aren�t going to give up,� UW-Stevens Point coach Sheila Miech said. �We were tentative at first and didn�t finish. There maybe were a lot of nerves involved.�

The victory was the Pointers� 16^th straight and improved their record to 22-4. Salisbury State was the nation�s only remaining undefeated team and ended its season at 20-1-2. UW-Stevens Point will face Tufts, Mass. (17-3-1) in the national semifinals Saturday at a site to be determined.

A strong wind was a major factor in the match as Salisbury State had the wind at its back in the first half, but failed to score. The Sea Gulls had a header hit off the crossbar and another goal disallowed because of an offsides call.

�(The wind) was unreal,� Pointers� goalie Abby Rabinovitz said. �The first half and second half were completely different games. We knew if we could hold them to 0-0 at halftime that we were in good shape for the second half.�

The Pointers finally took advantage and broke through with less than 22 minutes left when Molly Cady carried the ball along the end line and sent a perfect pass in front for Mickey Jacob, who sent a header past Sea Gulls� goalie Lisa Forbes for her 10^th goal of the season. It was a single-season school-record tying 20^th assist for Cady.

�Molly played me a perfect ball and it just went in,� Jacob said. �She�s a great passer and that was another great ball.�

The Pointers then sat back on defense for the next five minutes, but then became aggressive again on offense. Marie Muhvic made it 2-0 with 6:05 left with a long shot that sailed over Forbes� head for her 30^th goal of the season.

Salisbury State had very few scoring chances in the final 20 minutes, heading into the strong wind and a stingy UW-Stevens Point defense.

�When we scored, we knew what we had to do,� Miech said. �After winning 1-0 the past two weeks, we knew we could hold on. This team is just a very smart team and today was another smart game.�

�You can�t ever be confident when the game is tied and it�s late,� Muhvic said. �But we�ve come back before and we know if we play our best we can play with anyone.�

Rabinovitz, meanwhile, had several outstanding saves and finished with eight stops for the match as the Pointers� defense recorded its 11^th shutout in its last 12 matches.

�This was a great game,� Salisbury State coach Jim Berkman said. �Going into the game we knew we had to win the battle in the midfield. But number 13 (Jacob) was winning every headball and (Stevens Point) was just physically a little stronger.�

�We weren�t really playing our normal relaxed style for most of the match,� Miech said. �But then just before the goal, I don�t know what it was, but you could feel we got some momentum and really picked it up.�

The Pointers are just the fifth team in Division III history to win 22 or more matches in a season. They will learn the site and time of their next match on Sunday night.

 
                  1   2   F
UW-Stevens Point  0   2   2
Salisbury State   0   0   0

SP � Mickey Jacob (Molly Cady), 68:41
SP � Marie Muhvic, 83:55

Shots � Salisbury State 14, UW-Stevens Point 9
Corner Kicks � Salisbury State 8, UW-Stevens Point 3
Saves � Salisbury State 3 (Amy Forbes), UW-Stevens Point 8 (Abby Rabinovitz)