STANDISH, Maine – #1 Saint Joseph's College (19-0, 13-0 GNAC) will host #3 Johnson & Wales University (14-5, 11-2 GNAC) in the 2022 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Women's Lacrosse Tournament Championship on Saturday at 2:00 PM.
BRACKETOLOGY:
Quarterfinals - Saturday, April 30
#1 Saint Joseph's Maine def. #8 Elms, 20-4 (BOX)
#5 Emmanuel def. #4 Norwich, 11-7 (BOX)
#3 Johnson & Wales def. #6 Colby-Sawyer, 15-4 (BOX)
#2 Simmons def. #7 Lasell, 18-11 (BOX)
Semifinals- Tuesday, May 3
#1 Saint Joseph's def. #5 Emmanuel, 12-7 (BOX)
#3 Johnson & Wales def. #2 Simmons, 14-10 (BOX)
Championship - Saturday, May 7
#3 Johnson & Wales at #1 Saint Joseph's, 2:00 PM
HOW THEY GOT HERE:
Saint Joseph's toppled #8 Elms College, 20-4, in GNAC quarterfinal action at the SJC Athletics Complex on Saturday afternoon and held off #5 Emmanuel College, 12-7, in a tourney semifinal at home on Tuesday evening.
Five Monks netted at least three goals in the one-sided win over Elms, as Lydia Dexter (Oakland, Maine), Bridget Collins (Milford, Conn.), Carson Battaglia (Gorham, Maine) led the offensive effort for the hosts. On Tuesday, Dexter scored three goals with an assist while Collins and second-year Megan Mourmouras (Biddeford, Maine) notched four goals apiece.
Johnson & Wales cruised past #6 Colby-Sawyer, 15-4, in quarterfinal play on Tuesday and punched a ticket into the GNAC Championship for the sixth-consecutive with a 14-10 triumph at #2 Simmons on Tuesday.
In the win over Colby-Sawyer, sophomore Maris DiBeneditto (Southbury, Conn.) pocketed five goals with two assists and second-year midfielder Taina Gamory (Warwick, N.Y.) contributed three goals and four assists. Gamory netted eight goals and junior midfielder Margaret Johnson (Bear, Del.) hit pay dirt three times in the closing seven minutes to help the Wildcats upset the second-seeded Sharks on Tuesday.
FACTS & FIGURES:
Saint Joseph's:
- One of just five NCAA DIII Women's Lacrosse teams with an unblemished record (through 5/5), Saint Joseph's leads the conference in goals (334), assists (162), goals per game (17.58), draw controls (312), fewest goals allowed (105), and goals against average (5.56)
- Out of 283 NCAA DIII teams, St. Joe's is ranked fourth in scoring defense (5.56), sixth in ground balls per game (28.84), seventh in average winning margin (12.05) and 10th in shots per game (36.84)
- Including the truncated 2021 campaign, the Monks have won 14-consecutive home games
Johnson & Wales:
- The Wildcats lead the GNAC in shooting percentage (48.8%), rank second in assists (134), and go into the title bout ranked third in the conference in goals (277), goals per game (14.58), shots on goal (445), draw controls (305), goals against average (7.72), and save percentage (51.7%)
- Since falling to St. Joe's by an 11-7 score in Standish on April 2nd, Johnson & Wales has won eight of nine games with the only setback being a 13-11 loss at Simmons on April 26th
- In the last nine games, Johnson & Wales has averaged 15.44 goals with an average winning margin of nearly 10 goals per contest (9.78); the Wildcats are 6-3 on the road this spring with losses at MIT, St. Joe's, and Simmons
PLAYERS TO WATCH:
Saint Joseph's:
- Graduate student Lydia Dexter (Oakland, Maine) is enjoying the finest season ever recorded by an SJC women's lacrosse player; as of May 5th, she leads the entire NCAA – all three divisions – with 152 points and ranks fifth in DIII with 74 assists
- Sophomore Carson Battaglia (Gorham, Maine) leads the conference in draw controls (134) and draw controls per game with 7.44 – an average that ranks 19th in NCAA DIII – with 45 points (38G, 7A) on the season
- Sophomore Bridget Collins (Milford, Conn.) has scored 51 goals with 63 total points while second-year Cailyn Wesley (Peabody, Mass.) has tallied 48 points (37G, 11A) sophomore Megan Mourmouras (Biddeford, Maine) has produced 46 points (28G, 18A)
Johnson & Wales:
- Sophomore Taina Gamory (Warwick, N.Y.) ranks second in the conference in assists (44), points (120) and draw controls and ranks fourth in goals (76), shots (140) and free-position goals (19)
- Sophomore Maris DiBeneditto (Southbury, Conn.) has scored 54 goals with 21 assists for 75 total points
- Sophomore Katie Sloan (Ellicott City, Md.) checks in with 50 goals and 69 total points and first-year Madeleine Gould (Oakdale, Conn.) has contributed 45 goals and 61 points this spring
KEEPER COMPARISON:
Saint Joseph's freshman Morgan Wright (Chelmsford, Mass.), who has started 15-consecutive games for the Monks, currently leads NCAA DIII Women's Lacrosse in goals against average (5.24) and ranks second in the GNAC in wins (15) and fewest goals allowed (63).
Freshman Emma Glyman (Tolland, Conn.) has emerged as the Wildcats' starting keeper and has made eight-consecutive starts in goal entering the championship game. The first-year netminder leads the GNAC in save percentage (54.0%) and ranks second in goals against average (7.30) and third in fewest goals allowed (87).
ATTITUDE REFLECTS LEADERSHIP:
Saint Joseph's third-year Head Coach David Keenan is 29-3 (.906) overall with a 15-1 (.938) record in conference play as the Monks' skipper. Keenan led the Monks to an undefeated regular season and are playing in the GNAC tournament for the first time under his leadership.
Jennifer Thomas, now in her second season as the Wildcats' head coach, sports a 21-9 (.700) overall record with a 14-3 (.824) mark in GNAC play as the JWU skipper. In her first season at the helm, Coach Thomas guided the Wildcats to the 2021 GNAC Championship with a 16-12 victory at Emmanuel College.
THE LAST TIME WE MET (BOX):
The Monks and Wildcats last met on April 2nd at the SJC Athletics Complex and the hosts prevailed, 11-7, to improve to 10-0 on the season. In an unfamiliar situation, St. Joe's was forced to rally to defeat JWU as the hosts faced a 5-2 deficit going into the second quarter and trailed by a 6-5 score at halftime.
The SJC defense took center stage in the second half as the Monks held the Wildcats to just one goal in the closing 30 minutes. In the meantime, Saint Joseph's netted six markers as Collins tied the game 1:50 into the third quarter and sophomore Cailyn Wesley (Peabody, Mass.) potted the game-winner off a Dexter pass with 4:40 left in the penultimate period.
JWU senior attack Brooke Healy (Bethel, Conn.) capped the third quarter scoring with a goal to make it an 8-7 game at the 18-second mark, but St. Joe's wrapped up the win with a 3-0 fourth frame.
The April 2nd SJC-JWU contest remains as the Monks' lowest scoring output of the season.
Wright made nine saves and Dexter tallied three goals and two assists for St. Joe's while DiBeneditto added two goals and three ground balls for Johnson & Wales.
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
With the April 2nd win, Saint Joseph's improved to 5-4 all-time versus Johnson & Wales University and ended a four-game losing streak at the hands of the Wildcats.
POSTSEASON HISTORY:
The Monks have appeared in the GNAC Tournament in 13 of 14 seasons and Saturday's game marks the program's third 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.
Johnson & Wales has enjoyed an unprecedented run in GNAC Tournament play and heads into the 2022 conference championship having won 14-consecutive GNAC playoff games spanning the last five seasons. 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.
The 2016 title bout loss at the hands of the Lasers is the last GNAC postseason loss the Wildcats endured, as JWU has won four-consecutive conference titles. In GNAC Championship games, Johnson & Wales defeated Simmons, 19-5 in 2017, topped Lasell, 20-9, in 2018, fought past Regis, 14-5, in 2019, and edged Emmanuel, 16-12, in 2021.
