Sullivan spearheaded the Skyhawks first round win and leads the NE10 in goals, caused turnovers, draw controls and ground balls (PHOTO BY Andrew Katsampes) |
Top-seeded Skyhawks and second-seeded Panthers to battle for National Semifinals berth at W.B. Mason Stadium at noon
NCAA II Women's Lacrosse East Regional Tournament Information
NCAA II Women's Lacrosse Championship Interactive Bracket
NCAA II Women's Lacrosse Championships Preliminary Rounds Program
EASTON, Mass. (May 14, 2022) – Top-seeded and Northeast-10 Conference champions Stonehill College, ranked No. 5 in this week's Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) Division II poll and No. 7 in the USA Lacrosse Magazine Division II poll, and second-seeded and No. 7/8 Adelphi University will battle for the East Regional Championship in 2022 NCAA Division II Women's Lacrosse Championship play on Timothy J. Coughlin, '80 Memorial Field at W.B. Mason Stadium tomorrow at noon.
Admission for tomorrow's East Region Championship is $10.00 for adults and $5.00 for children, students and senior citizens. Stonehill faculty, staff and students will be admitted free of charge, courtesy of Student Affairs and the Spirit Committee, when presenting their HillCard at the W.B. Mason Stadium ticket booth. The game will also be broadcast live by SkyhawksVision on NE10 Now, with Mason Stalph calling the action. Links to the broadcast and live stats are available at stonehillskyhawks.com, and NE10 Now viewers will also be able to watch the action live on their televisions through Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV and Roku.
Stonehill (18-2, 12-1 NE10) and Adelphi (17-2, 12-1 NE10) shared the NE10 regular season title, with the Skyhawks completing the Conference Championship double with a 13-12 overtime triumph over fellow NCAA Tournament participant Le Moyne College at W.B. Mason Stadium last Sunday. The Skyhawks advanced to tomorrow's regional championship with an 18-17 shootout win against fourth-seeded and No. 13/14 Mercy College in yesterday's regional first round, while the Panthers silenced Le Moyne or an 11-4 victory in the second game at W.B. Mason Stadium yesterday afternoon.
Rudden was also a key to the Skyhawks first round win and leads Division II with her school-record assist total and the NE10 with a school-record 115 points (PHOTO BY Andrew Katsampes) |
Senior preseason All-American Emma Sullivan led Stonehill yesterday with five goals, while collecting a career-high 14 draw controls, while junior Lydia Rudden delivered a game-high six points with a goal and five assists. Stonehill erased a pair of five goal deficits in the first quarter to trail by just two 7-5 after 15 minutes, keyed by sophomore Lilly Leach scoring three of her four first half goals in the final seven minutes of the opening frame. Trailing by five (7-2) with 3:22 remaining in the first quarter, the Skyhawks reeled off ten of the next 11 goals to grab a four-goal lead (12-8) after Sullivan's second goal of the game five minutes into the third frame. A five-goal run early in the fourth would ultimately prove to clinch the win for Stonehill with a five-goal lead (18-13) after Sullivan's third of the quarter with 7:18 remaining, but freshman Sarah Faley's eighth save of the day in the dying seconds was needed to finally seal the Skyhawks first NCAA Tournament win since the 2005 National Championship game.
Adelphi held Le Moyne scoreless after halftime and outscored the Dolphins 8-1 over the final 37-minutes of the game to break and 3-3 tie on its way to its first round win yesterday at W.B. Mason Stadium. Postgrad goalkeeper Emma Lemanski made eight saves, including five in the second half, to backbone the Panthers defensive effort while senior Christina McCabe scored three goals to lead the attack. Senior Alexandra Beebe keyed the defensive effort in front of Lemanski with four caused turnovers and junior Kristina Kallansrude added two goals and collected four draw controls and two ground balls.
Sunday will mark the 29th meeting all-time between these two programs, the ninth in postseason play and fourth NCAA Tournament encounter. Adelphi holds a 22-6 advantage in the all-time series, but Stonehill broke a run of 20-straight Panthers wins with a 14-13 overtime triumph in the regular season matchup at W.B. Mason Stadium on April 23 as Faley made a late free-position save in the final seconds of regulation and then sophomore Molly Mae Hughes scored a free-position goal with 2:14 remaining in overtime to clinch the win.
Adelphi is 7-1 against Stonehill all-time in postseason play, including a 2-1 clip in the NCAA Tournament. The Panthers posted a 10-6 victory in the quarterfinal round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament in Garden City, New York. The Skyhawks NCAA Tournament win over Adelphi came with a 16-10 decision in the national semifinal round in 2005 at West Chester, Pennsylvania, on their way to a second national championship in three years. Tomorrow marks the first NCAA Tournament encounter between the two teams in Easton, Massachusetts.
The winner of tomorrow's regional championship will advance to the NCAA Division II Championships, hosted by defending champions Lindenwood University, in St. Charles, Missouri, May 20-22. The national semifinals are set to be played at Harlen C. Hunter Stadium on Friday, May 20, with the national championship to be contest on Sunday, May 22.
Hughes scored the gamewinner in overtime during the Skyhawks first matchup with Adelphi this spring. (PHOTO BY Andrew Katsampes) |
Stonehill is making its ninth and final appearance in the NCAA Division II Tournament before beginning a transition to NCAA Division I status in the Northeast Conference on July 1. The Skyhawks are back in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2015 and seek a return to the national semifinals for the first time since 2005. The Skyhawks are hosting NCAA Tournament lacrosse for the first time since winning its first of two national championships at what is now Skyhawk Field in 2003, and have earned NCAA Tournament bids in 2001, '02, '03, '05, '07, 2010, '13 and '15, with this marking the fourth appearance under NE10 Coach of the Year Katie Conover, '03, a member of the 2003 national championship squad and now in her 15th season as head coach of her alma mater.
Stonehill enters Sunday's regional championship winners of 12-straight for the first time since winning the first 12 games of the 2015 season. The Skyhawks, who will be playing their ninth-straight game at W.B. Mason Stadium tomorrow, have posted an 11-1 clip against nationally ranked teams this spring after yesterday's win over No. 13/14 Mercy. Stonehill carries the No. 5-ranked offense in Division II into tomorrow's game, leading the NE10 with 17.35 goals per game, averaging 33.4 shots per game to rank second in the NE10 (13th nationally). The Skyhawks have dominated the draw circle this season, averaging an NE10-best 18.95 draw controls per game (2nd), while ranking seventh in the NE10 for scoring defense, allowing 11.4 goals per game, first with 19.4 ground balls per game and fourth with 10.9 caused turnovers per game.
Stonehill's attack is led by the top three scorers in the NE10 and five 40 goal scorers, including Rudden, the NE10 Attack of the Year who leads the NE10 and ranks second nationally with her school-record 115 points, having dished out a Division II leading and program-record 73 assists to go with 42 goals (13th NE10). Rudden, an IWLCA All-East Region first team selection, also became just the fourth in program history to surpass 100 career assists, finishing yesterday's first round game with 102 helpers in 33 career games played.
Sullivan, the NE10 Midfielder of the Year and an IWLCA All-East Region selection for the second-straight year with her first team honor, leads the NE10 with her 71 goals (12th nationally), which has matched the program's single-season record by Kristin Darrell, '08 in 2006. She is second to Rudden among NE10 leaders with her 89 points, adding 18 assists (13th NE10), while leading the NE10 with her program-record 145 draw controls (12th nationally), 73 ground balls (7th) and school-record 46 caused turnovers (10th). Sullivan's ground ball total is two shy of Taylor Shannahan's '18 single-season record of 75 in 2018, while her 226 career draws are second only to Kelsey Reilly's '13 record of 313.
Faley had key late saves against both Adelphi and Mercy yesterday to seal close wins (PHOTO BY Andrew Katsampes) |
Hughes, an NE10 All-Championship Team and IWLCA All-East Region second team selection, ranks third among NE10 scoring leaders behind Rudden and Sullivan with 79 points on 54 goals (6th NE10) and 25 assists (7th), while senior Kendall Fressle, an All-NE10 and IWLCA All-East second team honoree, rounds out the Skyhawks 50-goal scorers with 51 (7th), including a school-record 21 on free-position attempts, adding 12 assists for 63 points (12th). Junior Kayla Conway has contributed 47 goals (8th), including three in Friday's win, to go with 13 assists for 60 points (15th).
Junior defender Victoria Butler, an All-NE10 and IWLCA All-East Region first team selection, and Leach, the NE10 Championship Most Outstanding Player and a third team All-NE10 pick, also play key roles for Stonehill's top draw control team. Leach is second to Sullivan on the team (5th NE10) with her 99 draw controls, including an incredible 32 during the NE10 Tournament to earn IWLCA Division II Offensive Player of the Week, adding 36 goals and two assists for 38 points, along with 18 ground balls and 17 caused turnovers.
Butler is a key member of the Stonehill defense, ranking second to Sullivan with 47 ground balls (5th NE10) and 25 caused turnovers (11th), while her 84 draw controls are third on the Skyhawks (9th). She has also chipped in on the attack with 17 goals and three assists for 20 points. Freshman Mallory Crispens is second on the team with 26 caused turnovers (9th NE10), adding 45 ground balls (6th).
Faley, an All-NE10 third team and All-Rookie Team pick, has played all but 90 minutes in the Stonehill goal in her first collegiate season. She ranks fourth in the NE10 with an 11.25 goals against average, posting a .429 save percentage (6th NE10) with 7.9 saves per game (5th) in an NE10 leading 1,115:04 over her 20 games played (19 starts).
Broderick, the NE10 Defensive Player of the Year, will lead the Panthers stout defensive unit against Stonehill's prolific attack (PHOTO BY Mary Gettens) |
Adelphi, winners of a Division II record nine National Championships, are making their record matching 16th NCAA Tournament appearance this weekend. The Panthers, who have won three of their nine Division II titles under head coach Pat McCabe (2015, '17 and '19), aims for a return to the national semifinals for the 14th time, owning a 29-6 record all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
Tomorrow's regional final will certainly offer a contrast in styles with Adelphi boasting the No. 3-ranked defense in Division II, by allowing an NE10 low 5.89 goals per game. The Panthers are third in the NE10 with 11.7 caused turnovers per game (14th nationally), and fifth for scoring offense with 13.9 goals per game, ranking 11th in the Conference with 12.4 draw controls per game.
Lemanski leads Division II with her 5.83 goals against average, while leading the NE10 with a .477 save percentage (11th nationally) with 4.9 saves per game in 1,049:55 (5th NE10) in 19 starts. Beebe, an IWLC All-East Region second team selection, leads the Adelphi defense with 34 caused turnovers, while adding 26 ground balls, while postgrad Kailey Broderick, the NE10 Defensive Player of the Year and first team All-Region performer, has collected a team-high 45 ground balls and fifth-year Izzy Grant, a first team All-Region honoree, has totaled a team-high 78 draw controls.
Christina McCabe, an IWLCA All-East Region first team selection and daughter of the Adelphi head coach, leads four from Adelphi with 30-plus goals with a team-high 76 points, scoring 46 goals to go with 30 assists. Postgrad Emily Beier, and All-East second team honoree, is second on the team with 64 points, dishing out a team-high 33 assists, to go with 31 goals, while chipping in 12 caused turnovers, while Grant had added 40 goals and six assists for 46 points.
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2022 NCAA Division II Tournament
East Regional, hosted by Stonehill College
First Round
Friday, May 13
#1 Stonehill 18, #4 Mercy 17
#2 Adelphi 11, #3 Le Moyne 4
Regional Championship
Sunday, May 15
#2 Adelphi University (17-2, 12-1 NE10) at #1 Stonehill College (18-2, 12-1 NE10), Noon
NCAA Division II Women's Lacrosse Championships
hosted by Lindenwood University, St. Charles, Missouri
May 20-22
