STANDISH, ME - #3 Norwich University (8-6, 7-1 GNAC) edged Saint Joseph's College (10-4-1, 7-1 GNAC), 12-10, in a GNAC Women's Lacrosse Tournament semifinal match at Westerlea Way Field on Wednesday afternoon. Alyssa Marchant '11 (Wakefield, MA) led the Monks with three goals in the season-ending loss.
Both goalkeepers played well in the semifinal contest, as SJC keeper Taylor Allison '12 (Pawtucket, RI) made 12 stops and Cadets netminder Kellie Pickel '11 (Montpelier, VT) registered 13 saves between the pipes.
The same matchup required four overtimes to decide the winner during the regular season, with St. Joe's coming out on top, 13-12, on April 2nd. The evenly matched conference rivals provided onlookers with another riveting contest, as the score stood tied on four occasions and the largest lead held by either team was just three goals.
Cadets struck first with early two goals, as Chelsea Martin '11 (Barre, VT) and Kacey Abbriano '12 (Hicksville, NY) both netted markers in the opening three minutes to provide the visitors with a 2-0 cushion.
Saint Joseph's responded with two goals over the next four minutes of play to knot the game at two apiece. Lauren Hagerman '10 (Scarborough, ME) scored a free-position goal to put the Monks on the board and Marchant recorded her first of three scores at the 23:04 mark to tie the contest.
After five minutes of scoreless play, Norwich scored three unanswered goals to attain a 5-2 advantage. Jillian Balasco '12 (Barrington, RI), Danielle Del Dotto '12 (Andover, MA) and Mollie Fitzpatrick '12 (Falmouth, ME/Cheverus) all found the back of the cage to help the Cadets go up by three with 11:05 left in the first half.
Over the final 10 minutes of the opening stanza, goals by Marchant and Lizzie Farley '11 (Scarborough, ME) helped offset a goal by Norwich defender Ally Allen '10 (Chelsea, VT), as the Cadets carried a 6-4 cushion into the intermission.
The Cadets kicked off the scoring in the second half as well, as Abbriano put a shot past Allison at the 26:12 mark to put her team up 7-4.
The Monks went on to score the next four goals of the game, as Emily Wight '13 (Westbrook, ME) and Amelia Santos '12 (Beverly, MA) scored just 17 seconds apart and Marchant beat Pickel on a free-position bid to tie the contest, 7-7, with 17:17 left.
Santos provided the Monks with their first lead of the day 37 seconds later, as the sophomore standout steered a free-position attempt past Pickel to give the Royal Blue an 8-7 edge.
Del Dotto scored off a Fitzpatrick pass to tie the game at eight-apiece with 16:17 to go, but SJC attacker Erika Waterhouse '13 (South Portland, ME) put her team ahead by one again 17 seconds later with a goal off a Jaimee Brett '10 (Otisfield, ME) assist.
The Cadets proceeded to change the face of the playoff contest, as the visitors scored four straight over an nine-minute span to earn a 12-9 lead. Kathleen Hennessy '10 (Essex Junction, VT) tied the game, 9-9, at the 14:49 mark, and Abbriano, Del Dotto and Martin put the game out of reach with tallies over the next eight minutes of play.
Hagerman netted the final goal of the game off a free-position attempt with 5:27 remaining. The senior midfielder led the Monks with five groundballs and four draw controls against the Cadets.
Norwich was led offensively by Abbriano and Del Dotto, as both players scored three goals in the Cadet triumph. Abbriano added a game-high seven groundballs and a team-best four draw controls to her stat line.
Norwich held slim advantages in shots (32-29), draw controls (13-11) and clear percentage (91%-73%), while the Monks won the groundball battle (25-23) and scored five free-position goals in the losing effort.
For the Monks, the loss signals the end of the 2010 campaign, which was the most successful in the program's three-year history. This year's team obliterated the program single-season marks for goals (220), assists (72), points (292), shots (498), shots on goal (374), groundballs (461) and caused turnovers (65). As of April 12th, St. Joe's was one of just four NCAA DIII Women's Lacrosse programs without a loss and the team ranked fourth in groundballs per game (32.92) as of April 18th.
Norwich will play at #1 Emerson College, who defeated #4 Mount Ida, 12-2, this afternoon, on Saturday, start time TBA.
