STANDISH, Maine - #2 Saint Joseph's College (15-3, 12-1 GNAC) toppled #7 Norwich University (7-10, 6-7 GNAC), 21-2, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Women's Lacrosse Tournament Quarterfinal at the SJC Athletics Complex on Friday afternoon.
PLAYOFF IMPLICATIONS:
With the victory, Saint Joseph's advances to the semifinal round of the conference tourney and will host #3 Simmons University on Wednesday, start time TBD. Simmons toppled #6 Dean College, 15-2, in other quarterfinal action earlier today.
For Norwich, the loss signals the end of the 2023 season.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Monks came out firing and held a 4-0 lead after sophomore Brianna Paul (Brattleboro, Vt.) scored a pair of man-up goals in a matter of 64 seconds midway through the first quarter. St. Joe's scored four times in a two-minute spell to secure an 8-0 lead before the Cadets finally got on the board with an Athena Merck (West Yarmouth, Mass.) strike 21 seconds before the start of the second stanza.
Saint Joseph's claimed a 10-goal lead (11-1) after sophomore Mackenzie Siebert (Naples, Maine) scored twice and Paul connected for her third tally of the game with 7:06 before the break and the hosts carried a 13-2 cushion into intermission.
The Monks closed out the contest with eight unanswered goals from seven different players to account for the 21-2 final.
TEAM STATS:
Saint Joseph's held the lead in shots (36-10), shots on goal (29-7), draw controls (22-4), ground balls (32-24), and caused turnovers (20-18) in the victory.
THE KEEPERS:
Saint Joseph's split time in the cage, as freshman starter Alexis Eldridge (Effingham, N.H.) posted three saves in the first half and sophomore Morgan Wright (Chelmsford, Mass.) made a pair of stops with three caused turnovers and a pair of ground balls in the latter 30 minutes.
Norwich junior netminder Maeve Noble-Lowe (Freedom, Maine) made eight saves in a losing effort.
LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:
- Grad attack Lydia Dexter (Oakland, Maine) registered five goals, two assists, and a pair of ground balls
- Paul scored five goals on six shots and added an assist
- Siebert netted four goals on five shots with an assist
- Junior Carson Battaglia (Gorham, Maine) notched two goals, an assist, six ground balls, 11 draw controls, and two caused turnovers
- Sophomore Shauna Clark (Oakland, Maine) added two goals, two assists, four draw controls, two ground balls, and a pair of caused turnovers
- Freshman Celia Melanson (Waterford, Maine) chipped in with a goal and an assist with two ground balls
- Junior Madison Scott (Cumberland, Maine) posted four ground balls and three caused turnovers; the standout defender broke the Monks' single-season caused turnover record in the third quarter when she notched her 44th CT of the campaign
- Junior Heather Rohr (Merrimack, N.H.) contributed with five draw controls and a pair of caused turnovers
LEADERS – NORWICH:
- Merck and Ellie Moriarty scored a goal apiece
- Celine Juneau (Chazy, N.Y.) and Lindsey Parker (Wells, Maine) both picked up five ground balls
- Addison Reil (East Barre, Vt.) chipped in with two ground balls and three caused turnovers
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
With the victory, Saint Joseph's improves to 22-7 in the history of the series with Norwich University.
