Familiar Foes to Battle for NEC Crown
from press release
As if they weren't already familiar enough with one another. Sacred Heart and Quinnipiac, whose campuses are separated by a half-hour drive on Connecticut's Merritt Parkway, will meet in the Northeast Conference Women's Lacrosse Championship Game for the third consecutive season. Serving as the tournament host, the top-seeded Sacred Heart jumped all over No. 4 Mount St. Mary's in the first of two semifinal games on Friday afternoon at Campus Field. The two-time defending NEC champion Pioneers scored the first four goals of the game and never looked back on the way to a 14-5 victory over the Mount. No. 2 seed Quinnipiac doubled up No. 3 seed Monmouth, 8-4, in the second semifinal to set up Sunday's title matchup.
NEC Semifinal One
#1 Sacred Heart 14, #4 Mount St. Mary's 5
Fairfield, Conn. - Sacred Heart took another step toward Northeast Conference perfection. After completing an undefeated run through the regular season league schedule, SHU continued to roll when it opened postseason play on Friday afternoon at Campus Field.
The top-seeded Pioneers raced past No. 4 seed Mount St. Mary's, 14-5, in the semifinal round of the 2010 NEC Women's Lacrosse Championship and will face Quinnipiac in Sunday's title game for a third consecutive year.
Sacred Heart scored the first four goals of the game and never looked back on the way to its fifth consecutive win in NEC Tournament play.
The two sides played to a scoreless stalemate for the first 7:08 until senior Jackie Pierce (Cortlandt Manor, NY/Walter Panas) tallied her 18th goal of the year off a pass from sophomore Alicia Fuchs (Bay Shore, NY/Bay Shore). Sophomore Katie Kmiotek (Farmingville, NY/Sachem East) doubled the Pioneers' lead to 2-0 less than one minute later when she rattled the cage for a 44th time this season.
NEC Player of the Carissa Hauser (East Northport, NY/Commack) joined the fun soon thereafter. The senior attacker scored twice within a 2:32 span to put the Pioneers in front 4-0.
Mount St. Mary's broke through on a goal from sophomore Jen Semler (Baltimore, MD/Perry Hall) with 13:31 remaining in the opening half, but Sacred Heart Kaitlin Rochler (Wading River, NY/Shoreham-Wading) answered right back 12 seconds later to make the score 5-1.
Sacred Heart took an 8-2 lead into the break and led by no fewer than six goals the rest of the way.
Hauser completed the hat trick when she opened the second half scoring with 22:32 remaining on the clock.
With the Mount trailing 11-2, freshman Jordan Certeza (Baltimore, MD/Baltimore Lutheran) provided a spark midway through the second half. She scored back-to-back goals within a 1:12 span to pull the Mountaineers within 11-4.
Rochler, who finished with a game-high four goals, put together back-to-back tallies of her own to put the Pioneers' back in front by a nine-goal margin.
Mount St. Mary's, which won its last title in 2005, was making its eighth consecutive NEC Tournament appearance.
NEC Semifinal Two
#2 Quinnipiac 8, #3 Monmouth 4
Quinnipiac is hoping the third time will be the charm. The No. 2 seed Bobcats are headed to Northeast Conference Women's Lacrosse Championship Game for the third consecutive year after defeating No. 3 seed Monmouth, 8-4, in Friday's semifinal round.
Quinnipiac's opponent for Sunday's title tilt will be two-time defending champion Sacred Heart.
All-NEC first team midfielder Lauren Matuszczak (East Longmeadow, MA/East Longmeadow) scored two goals in the first two minutes of the game.
Junior Carissa Franzi (Fairfield, NJ/West Essex) responded with a goal to pull Monmouth within one, 2-1, just over two minutes later.
Quinnipiac struck right back over the next 10:00 with goals from freshman Lianne Toomey (Hicksville, NY/Hicksville) and Matuszczak who increased the lead to 4-1.
After Monmouth's Franzi and Molly O'Brien (Kennett Square, PA/Unionville) made it a one-goal game, 4-3, all-NEC first teamer Katie Latonick (Severna Park, MD/Spalding) scored consecutive goals in the final five minutes to take a 6-3 lead into halftime. The Bobcats' leading point scorer posted five in the first half as she netted two and assisted on three others.
The second half started off slow for both teams. The period's first goal came almost midway through the stanza from all-NEC first team selection Devon Gibney (Hopkinton, MA/Hopkinton). The goal was the sophomore's team-leading 39th of the season.
Monmouth's lone goal came from senior Perry Dewitt (Malvern, PA/Great Valley) 2:01 later.
Finally, with just under six minutes remaining in the game, Toomey's second of the game and 14th goal of the season gave the Bobcats an 8-4 lead. The final goal of the game came on the free-position, only the second of the contest for either team.
Making her first start since Mar. 24, and first against an NEC opponent this season, sophomore goalkeeper Noelle Martello (Westbury, NY/Carle Place) came up big. She made a career-high 16 saves in her first appearance since playing 16 minutes against Wagner on April 7. Martello stopped all four of Monmouth's free position attempts.
Quinnipiac junior Kaitlyn Kelly (North Massapequa, NY/Plainedge), the 2010 NEC Defensive Player of the Year, collected two ground balls and possessed two draw controls in the win. Gibney also contributed at the defensive end of the field, causing a game-high three turnovers against the Hawks.
