Sacred Heart Three-Peats as NEC Champion
from press release
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| Sacred Heart goalkeeper Chelsea Wagner made eight second-half saves to lead the Pioneers past Quinnipiac, 12-7, in the NEC championship game. Wagner was named tournament MVP. |
FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- The Sacred Heart women's
lacrosse team used a 7-1 second half run to erase a 6-5 Quinnipiac
lead on their way to winning their third-straight Northeast
Conference Championship Sunday afternoon, 12-7 over the Bobcats.
SHU senior goalkeeper Chelsea Wagner (Aurora, Colo.) made five of
her eight saves in the second half to help fuel the Pioneer rally
and was named the 2010 NEC Tournament Most Valuable Player.
"I am really proud of how this team stuck together," stated head
coach Laura Cook. "I really believe the experience of the last two
years is what won it for us today. In a tight game, this group just
dug down deep in clutch time and got it done."
"This feels so, so good," stated SHU goalie and tournament MVP
Wagner. "What a huge sigh of relief. I am so proud of this team for
coming out and getting the three-peat, just so excited."
For the third-straight season, the NEC rival Pioneers and Bobcats
faced off for the league's lacrosse championship with SHU claiming
the last two at home on Campus Field. The win finishes off a
perfect run through the Northeast Conference for Sacred Heart, who
ran off an unblemished 9-0 regular season mark. The Pioneers raised
their record to 14-4 with their 12th-straight victory as they move
on to the 2010 NCAA Play-In Game on Saturday, May 8th at the
champion from the Patriot League.
Joining Wagner on this year's Northeast Conference All-Tournament
team was senior teammates Carissa Hauser (East Northport, NY),
Jackie Pierce (Cortlandt Manor, NY) and Farra Copploa (Wantagh, NY)
and junior Elizabeth Drehwing (Wyckoff, NJ).
Quinnipiac (10-7) struck first as leading scorer Katie Latonick
found her teammate Lauren Matuszczak right in front of the cage for
a 1-0 lead just 1:20 into play. SHU's Hauser helped set up the next
two Pioneer goals, feeding senior teammate Pierce. Hauser found
Pierce at the left post to tie it at 1-1 at 23:48. The duo
hooked-up again just 42 seconds later as Hauser pulled out of an
8meter free-position attempt and found a cutting Pierce in front
for a 2-1 lead.
Sacred Heart had a chance to extend the lead to 3-1 as Cori
Horelik (South Windsor, CT) earned an 8meter attempt at 20:43 but
saw her shot sail wide. Latonick took advantage of the successful
Quinnipiac clear and worked her way to through the middle of the
SHU defense for an unassisted marker at 18:14 tying it at 2-2.
SHU's Horelik picked up the first of her three goals on the day
with 16:30 on the first half clock, taking a feed from sophomore
Alicia Fuchs (Bay Shore, NY) and beating QU keeper Noelle Martello
for a 3-2 advantage.
After Devon Gibney hit the post on an 8meter attempt with 13:08,
SHU's Kate Kmiotek (Farmingville, NY) gathered up the ground ball
but saw her pass picked off by Latonick who took advantage going
straight to cage beating Wagner one-on-one, tying it 3-3. The two
team's would trade goals over the last 10 minutes of action, as
SHU's Hauser made it 4-3 with her first goal of the day at 7:54
followed by Quinnipiac's Lyndsey Banach unassisted score at 2:35 to
send it to the half knotted at 4-4.
The Bobcats scored twice in the first 5:07 of the second half
before Wagner and the defensive unit set the stage for SHU's
offensive rally. "This defense pulled together, we knew we needed
to step up and get stops and that's just what we did I have a
tremendous defensive unit out there in front of me." QU's Laura
Iannotti scored unassisted at 26:16 and then followed a Horelik
8meter goal by scoring off transition off a feed from Laura
Mutuszczak at 24:53. From there, the Pioneers ripped off a 5-0 run
before QU would end their drought with 3:32 left.
Fuchs got the Sacred Heart run started off burying a feed from
Pierce in the top-right corner at 21:44, knotting it at 6-6.
Kmiotek took advantage of a Quinnipiac defensive crease violation
at 17:28, beating the goalie one-on-one for a 7-6 lead, a lead they
would never relinquish. The Bobcats had a chance to tie at 14:30
but Gibney's point-blank shot hit the post and the Pioneer's
cleared setting up a Hauser 8meter goal a minute later, her second
of the day.
Kmiotek had a hand in the next two Sacred Heart goals, making a
diving pass to Pierce for her third of the day at 8:15 then scoring
unassisted at 3:45 for a 10-6 advantage, capping the 5-0 rally.
QU's Kaitlyn Kelly ended the scoring drought at 3:32, scoring
unassisted, but Kmiotek helped thwart the Bobcat rally forcing a
turnover off the ensuing draw as SHU cleared and tacked on two more
goals in the final minutes to seal the win and their third-straight
NEC title.
"This is probably the best season in my career," commented Cook.
"The team came in this fall, worked hard and today put the
finishing touch on what has been a dream season."
Rounding out the 2010 NEC All-Tournament team was Quinnipiac's
Kaitlyn Kelly, Lauren Mutuszczak and Kim Davis, Mount St. Mary's
Jackie Kearney and Lucy Pompa and Monmouth's Carissa Franzi and
Kirby Mundorf.
