STANDISH, Maine – #2 Saint Joseph's College (16-3, 12-1 GNAC) will play at top-seeded Johnson & Wales University (15-2, 13-0 GNAC) in the 2023 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Women's Lacrosse Tournament Championship on Saturday at 11:00 AM. The game is a rematch of the 2022 title bout, which the Monks won by a 10-9 margin on their home turf.

BRACKETOLOGY:

TEAM STATS COMPARISON:

Quarterfinals – Friday, April 28 & Saturday, April 29

GAME 1: #1 Johnson & Wales def. #8 Elms, 18-7
GAME 2: #2 Saint Joseph's def. #7 Norwich, 21-2
GAME 3: #3 Simmons def. #6 Dean, 15-2
GAME 4: #4 Emmanuel def. #5 Colby-Sawyer, 14-7

Semifinals- Tuesday, May 3

GAME 5: #1 Johnson & Wales def. #4 Emmanuel, 14-5
GAME 6: #2 Saint Joseph's def. #3 Simmons, 11-5

Championship - Saturday, May 6

GAME 7: #2 Saint Joseph's at #1 Johnson & Wales, 11:00 AM

PLAYERS TO WATCH:

Saint Joseph's:

• #23 - Grad student Lydia Dexter (Oakland, Maine) leads the GNAC in points (127) and ranks second in shots (167) and shots on goal (134), and third in goals (82) and assists (45). She became the Monks' all-time points leader earlier this season and heads into the title matchup with 211 goals, 160 assists, and 371 points over 64 career games.
• #7 - Sophomore Shauna Clark (Oakland, Maine) has enjoyed a breakout season and ranks second on the squad in points (66) and assists (28) and third in goals (38).
• #17 - Junior Carson Battaglia (Gorham, Maine) is in the midst of another fine season with 41 goals and 51 total points in 19 games this spring. She currently leads the conference in draw controls (150) and is ranked fifth in ground balls (67).

Johnson & Wales:

• #6 - Senior Taina Gamory (Warwick, N.Y.) leads the conference in assists (58) and ranks second in points (111) and ranks fourth in caused turnovers (46), sixth in ground balls (66), and eighth in goals (53).
• #8 - Sophomore Madeleine Gould (Oakdale, Conn.) is also enjoying a breakout season with 59 goals and 19 assists for 78 total points; she ranks fifth in the GNAC in goals and sixth in total points.
• #11 - Junior Maris DiBeneditto (Southbury, Conn.) has scored 52 goals with 22 assists for 74 total points.

KEEPER COMPARISON:

Saint Joseph's freshman Alexis Eldridge (Effingham, N.H.) is 14-2 with a 6.90 goals against average and a 51.2% save percentage after posting 85 saves and yielding 81 goals in 704 minutes between the pipes. She ranks second in the league in wins, third in goals against average, and fourth in save percentage.

Sophomore Emma Glyman (Tolland, Conn.) is 15-2 with a 7.23 goals against average and a 54.4% save percentage with 124 saves and 104 goals allowed in 863 minutes over 17 starts. She leads the GNAC in victories and ranks second in save percentage and third in goals against average.

ATTITUDE REFLECTS LEADERSHIP:

Saint Joseph's fourth-year Head Coach David Keenan is 46-7 (.868) overall with a 27-2 (.931) record in conference play as the Monks' skipper. Keenan led the Monks to the 2023 GNAC Championship in his first full season as the team leader and guided the Royal Blue to a 23-game winning streak versus conference foes before suffering an 11-9 setback at the hands of the Wildcats on April 15th.

JWU Interim Head Coach Maria Patane has capably taken the reins of the Wildcats' women's lacrosse program after recording an incredible career on the field at JWU. A 2020 Johnson & Wales graduate, Patane was a four-year member of the women's lacrosse program, earning GNAC First Team and All-Tournament Team honors in 2017, 2018, and 2019. She closed her career with 267 points (166 G, 101 A) in 68 games and scored a career-high 67 goals as a sophomore before racking up a career-high 102 points as a junior. The Wildcats captured three GNAC titles during her career (2017-19).

THE LAST TIME WE MET (BOX):

The Monks and Wildcats last met in Providence on April 15th when JWU edged SJC by an 11-9 score, effectively ending the Monks' 23-game regular-season GNAC winning streak.

St. Joe's faced a 3-1 deficit midway through the first quarter, but netted four straight markers and held a 5-3 lead after Dexter netted her 60th goal of the year with 7:42 left in the second stanza.

The Monks maintained the lead until the Wildcats pocketed three of the first four goals in the third quarter, as a Madeleine Gould free-position tally tied the game at 8-8 with 4:30 left in the period. Battaglia lifted her team to a 9-8 edge with her 31st goal of the season at the 1:48 mark.

Unfortunately for Saint Joseph's, the Battaglia strike would be the visitors' last of the afternoon, as Johnson & Wales received goals from Taina Gamory, Margaret Johnson, and Isabella Nugent while holding the Monks off the board during the final 15 minutes to secure the 11-9 triumph.

Saint Joseph's held the lead in shots (31-27), shots on goal (24-15), ground balls (32-25), caused turnovers (12-11), and draw controls (13-11) in the losing effort.

In goal, Eldridge made four saves in the setback while Glyman turned away 15 shots for the Wildcats.

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:

With the loss, Saint Joseph's fell to 6-5 all-time versus Johnson & Wales University, a team the Monks defeated by a 10-9 score in the 2022 GNAC Championship, which was held at the SJC Athletics Complex on May 7th, 2022.

POSTSEASON HISTORY:

The Monks have appeared in the GNAC Tournament in 14 of 15 seasons and Saturday's game marks the program's fourth GNAC Championship appearance. St. Joe's captured the 2015 conference crown with a 10-3 victory over Lasell after falling to Emmanuel, 17-7, in the 2014 title game. The Monks defeated the Wildcats, 10-9, in the 2022 GNAC Championship, which was played in Standish on May 7th.

The Wildcats' 2022 GNAC Championship setback brought an end to the team's 14-game tournament winning streak.

JWU began sponsoring women's lacrosse as an NCAA DIII varsity sport in 2014 and advanced to the GNAC Championship just two years later, falling to top-seeded Lasell University, which was the Wildcats' last tourney loss before losing to the Monks last spring.

Prior to 2022, JWU won four-consecutive conference titles with wins over Simmons (19-5 in 2017), Lasell (20-9 in 2018), Regis (14-5 in 2019), and Emmanuel (16-12 in 2021).