STANDISH, Maine – Saint Joseph's College (14-3, 12-1 GNAC) defeated Colby-Sawyer College (10-7, 8-5 GNAC), 14-11, in what was the 2023 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) women's lacrosse season finale for both teams at the SJC Athletics Complex on Wednesday evening.
PLAYOFF IMPLICATIONS:
With the victory, Saint Joseph's clinches the #2 seed in the GNAC Tournament and will host #7 Norwich University in a quarterfinal contest on Friday, start time TBD. Colby-Sawyer has earned the #5 seed and will play at #4 Emmanuel College in the quarterfinal round on Saturday at 4:00 PM.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Chargers opened the scoring with a pair of goals in the opening two minutes and seven seconds, as Heather Hanson (Barnstable, Mass.) and Cecilia Ponzini (Windham, N.H.) hit pay dirt to provide the visitors with an early 2-0 lead. The Monks responded with a 3-0 scoring surge, as Carson Battaglia (Gorham, Maine), Lydia Dexter (Oakland, Maine), and Shauna Clark (Oakland, Maine) found the back of the net to lift the hosts to a 3-2 lead with 5:28 left in the first quarter.
Hanson connected on her second goal of the night two minutes later, but St. Joe's proceeded to net five consecutive goals, the last of which coming on a Dexter shot and the Monks holding a 7-3 advantage at the 11:28 mark of the second stanza.
Colby-Sawyer sophomore Sophia Kuhlthau (Cheshire, Conn.)went on to score three of the final four goals of the first half, as the Chargers faced an 8-6 deficit heading into intermission.
The second half featured more of the same back and forth play, as the Monks held the lead for the remainder of the contest while the upset-minded Chargers seemed to answer every SJC goal with one of their own.
Both teams scored twice in the third period, as goals from Brianna Paul (Brattleboro, Vt.) and Dexter helped the hosts maintain a two-goal cushion (10-8) heading into the final frame.
Clark kicked off the scoring in the fourth quarter at the 13:16 mark when she pocketed her second goal of the night, but Hanson and Elena Bronson (Bristol, Vt.) scored at the 11:48 and 9:17 timestamps, respectively, to make it an 11-10 game.
The Monks went on to ice the triumph by netting three of the game's last four goals, as Dexter scored at the 7:18 mark and sophomore Mackenzie Siebert (Naples, Maine) potted a pair to offset a Kuhlthau tally and allow the hosts to escape with a 14-11 victory.
TEAM STATS:
The Monks held slight advantages in shots (29-24) and draw controls (17-12) while both teams steered 23 shots on net and the Chargers held the lead in ground balls (25-20) and caused turnovers (18-17) in the conference battle.
THE KEEPERS:
SJC freshman Alexis Eldridge (Effingham, N.H.) picked up the win after allowing six goals and making six saves in the first half while sophomore Morgan Wright (Chelmsford, Mass.) yielded five goals and turned away six shots in the second half.
Colby-Sawyer sophomore goalie AJ Paton (Exeter, N.H.) made nine saves in a complete-game performance.
LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:
- Dexter paced the SJC offense with four goals and two assists and added a pair of draw controls
- Siebert netted three goals on three shots
- Battaglia added a pair of goals with 10 draw controls and three ground balls
- Clark tallied two goals and an assist with two draw controls and three caused turnovers
- Junior Megan Mourmouras (Biddeford, Maine) chipped in with two goals, five ground balls, and two caused turnovers
- Senior defender Tara Powers (Tyngsboro, Mass.) registered two ground balls and four caused turnovers
- Junior defender Heather Rohr (Merrimack, N.H.) picked up three ground balls, two draw controls, and four caused turnovers
- Junior Madison Scott (Cumberland, Maine) added two ground balls and three caused turnovers
LEADERS – COLBY-SAWYER:
- Hanson scored a game-high five goals with three ground balls, four draw controls, and two caused turnovers
- Kuhlthau recorded four goals with an assist, four ground balls, six draw controls, and three caused turnovers
- Sophomore defender Hannah Himes (Williston, Vt.) added five ground balls and four caused turnovers
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
With the victory, Saint Joseph's improves to 3-0 all-time versus Colby-Sawyer College.
