Sullivan leads the Skyhawks into Sunday's NE10 Championship after netting a career-high six goals in Saturday's semifinals. (PHOTO BY Jon Bourque) |
Top-seeded Skyhawks aims to cap NE10 era with championship double
NE10 Women's Lacrosse Championship Central
EASTON, Mass. (May 7, 2022) – Top-seeded and Northeast-10 Conference regular season champions Stonehill College, ranked No. 8 in both the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) and USA Lacrosse Magazine Division II polls, will play for its Conference record tenth NE10 Tournament Championship as it rounds out its record 21st and final trip to the NE10 postseason by hosting third-seeded Le Moyne College, ranked No. 10 in the USA Lacrosse Magazine poll and 11th by the IWLCA, as the 2022 NE10 Women's Lacrosse Tournament draws to a close on Timothy J. Coughlin, '80 Memorial Field at W.B. Mason Stadium tomorrow at 1 p.m.
Admission to the NE10 Championship game is free of charge. The game will also be webcast live via NE10 Now, with Mason Stalph calling the action, produced by Pack Network. 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 (16-2, 12-1 NE10), which announced it will begin its transition to NCAA Division I status as a member of the Northeast Conference on July 1, aims to bring its NE10 era to a close with a record tenth championship and wrap up the NE10 double for a tenth time as well after posting a program-record 12 NE10 wins to claim the regular season championship. The Skyhawks are making their NE10 record 12th finals appearance, but its first since 2010 as they take aim at their first tournament title since posting a 17-10 win over Southern New Hampshire University in 2008.
Stonehill reached the NE10 Championship game in dramatic fashion, erasing a season-high seven goal halftime deficit by outscoring fourth-seeded and No. 12/13 Pace University 17-5 in the second half to secure a 20-10 win on Saturday. Senior preseason All-American Emma Sullivan and sophomore Lilly Leach scored a career-high six goals apiece, with all six of Leach's markers coming after halftime and collected eight draw controls, while Sullivan added an assist and filled the box score with five draws, four groundballs and two caused turnovers. Stonehill opened the tournament with an 18-8 win over eighth-seeded and No. 22-ranked University of New Haven in Wednesday's quarterfinal round.
Sophomore Molly Mae Hughes has totaled 13 points with nine goals and four assists over Stonehill first two NE10 Tournament games. Sullivan has contributed eight goals and four assists for 12 points, adding 11 draw controls, eight ground balls and six caused turnovers, while Leach has netted seven goals and collected 22 draw controls.
Leach also scored a career-high six goals on Saturday and is second to Sullivan on the team with 82 draw controls (PHOTO BY Jon Bourque) |
Le Moyne (15-4, 10-3 NE10) has reached the NE10 Championship for the ninth time in 11 NE10 Tournament appearances since joining the Conference in 2011 and takes aim at a third championship. The Dolphins have claimed NE10 Tournament titles with wins over Adelphi University in 2013 (8-6) and 2018 (14-10). Le Moyne advanced with a 9-8 overtime victory over second-seeded and No. 5/6 Adelphi in Saturday's semifinal played on the campus of Bentley University. Senior Adrianna Nojaim scored the winning goal with 3:11 remaining in overtime to lift the Dolphins to the win, finishing with a goal and assist in the game, while senior Jessica Meneilly posted three points with two goals and an assist, adding three draw controls, three ground balls and three caused turnovers. Junior Paige Crandall registered 13 saves in the Dolphins goal. Le Moyne opened the NE10 Tournament with a 20-10 quarterfinal round win over sixth-seeded Southern New Hampshire on Wednesday.
Sunday will mark the 15th meeting all-time between these two programs, the fifth in postseason play – all of which have come in the NE10 Tournament – but first in an NE10 Championship contest. Le Moyne holds an 11-3 advantage in the all-time series that dates back to 2011, including a 3-1 mark in the NE10 Tournament. Stonehill halted a streak of seven-straight wins by the Dolphins in the series with its 17-14 victory in the regular season encounter between the teams at W.B. Mason Stadium back on March 19. Le Moyne registered a 14-4 victory over the Skyhawks in their last postseason meeting in the quarterfinal round of the 2019 NE10 Tournament in Syracuse, New York. Le Moyne is 3-2 all-time at W.B. Mason Stadium
Junior Kayla Conway scored five goals, while Hughes dished out five assists and Leach added four goals and four draw controls to key Stonehill's 17-14 regular season win over Le Moyne in March. Freshman Sarah Faley posted 11 saves in the Skyhawks goal. Meneilly lead Le Moyne with a game-high six goals, while Crandall notched seven saves in 45-minutes for the Dolphins.
Stonehill, under the direction of NE10 Coach of the Year Katie Conover, '03, rolls into the NE10 Championship game winners of ten straight and having posted a 9-1 mark against nationally ranked teams this spring. The Skyhawks, ranked No. 2 in each of the first three NCAA Division II East Regional rankings of the season, only two setbacks came to then No. 19 Assumption (18-17) and Lynn University (21-16), which is ranked 16th nationally this week. Stonehill boasts the top offense in the NE10, scoring 17.6 goals per game to rank seventh nationally in Division II, having netted over 300-goals for just the fifth time in program history (316), while also leading the Conference with 8.2 assists per game (6th nationally), 18.2 draw controls per game (4th) and a .517 shot percentage (9th). The Skyhawks are fourth in the Conference for scoring defense, allowing 11.1 goals per game, also ranking fourth with 11.5 caused turnovers per game (25th) and 20.0 ground balls per game, and ranking third in scoring margin (+6.5) and 15.1 turnovers per game (15th).
Rudden has matched the program's single-season assist mark and leads the NE10 with 104 points (PHOTO BY Crystal Ayn Photography) |
Stonehill's powerful attack is keyed by a quartet of 40-goal scorers, with five netting 30-plus goals, led by the duo of Sullivan, the two-time NE10 Midfielder of the Year, and junior Lydia Rudden, the NE10 Attack of the Year, both All-NE10 first team selections. Sullivan surpassed the 60-goal plateau on Saturday, sharing the NE10 lead with her 65 goals, which ranks fourth on Stonehill's all-time single-season list – six shy of Kristin Darrell's '08 record 71 in 2006. Sullivan has totaled 83 points (2nd NE10), adding 18 assists, leading the NE10 with 127 draw controls, 71 ground balls and 45 caused turnovers, ranking sixth nationally in Division II for ground balls, (3.9), ninth in caused turnovers (2.5) and 12th in draw controls per game (7.2). Sullivan, a five-time NE10 Defensive Player of the Week that has also collected Player of the Week accolades once this spring, has matched the program's single-season record for caused turnovers, while ranking second for single-season draw controls and ground balls.
Rudden, who has posted just the third 100-point season in program history, has moved into a tie for on Stonehill's all-time single-season list with her head coach, leading the NE10 with 104 points (6th nationally), dishing out a program-record matching and Conference-leading 66 assists (3rd) with 38 goals. She has earned NE10 Player of the Week honors four times this spring, with IWLCA Division II Offensive Player of the Week accolades twice.
Hughes, who became the fourth Stonehill player to reach 100 career points this season on Saturday, is second to Sullivan on the team with her 54 goals (6th), adding 24 assists for 78 points (3rd), while senior Kendall Fressle, an All-NE10 second team selection, has added 48 goals (7th), including a program-record and NE10 leading 20 free-position goals, and 12 assists for 60 points (13th), while Conway rounds out the Skyhawks with 40 goals with 44 (11th), adding 13 assists for 57 points (14th).
Junior Victoria Butler has joined Rudden and Sullivan in earning All-NE10 first team honors this season. She was named the NE10 Defensive Player of the Week on Monday and spearheads the Stonehill defense, ranking third on the team with 71 draw controls (12th NE10), which ranks seventh on Stonehill's all-time single-season list, while ranking second on the team with 43 ground balls (5th) and 24 caused turnovers (10th). She has contributed on the offensive end with 15 goals and three assists for 18 points in 17 games played.
Leach earned third team All-NE10 honors and is a key part of the Skyhawks draw controls, ranking second to Sullivan with her 82 draw controls (8th) that rank tenth in the NE10 and fifth on the program's all-time single-season list. She has also contributed 28 goals and two assists for 30 points, adding 16 ground balls and 17 caused turnovers.
Hughes ranks third among NE10 scoring leaders, behind Rudden and Sullivan with her 78 points after becoming the fourth Skyhawks to reach 100 career points on Saturday. (PHOTO BY Andrew Katsampes) |
Freshmen Mallory Crispens and Faley have rounded out Stonehill's seven All-NE10 selections, having been named to the third team and earning All-Rookie Team status. Crispens has had an immediate impact on the Stonehill defensive unit, ranking third on the team with 38 ground balls (9th NE10) and 22 caused turnovers, adding six draw controls and an assist. Faley, a three-time NE10 Rookie of the Week, has played all but 90-minutes in the Stonehill goal, posting a 10.70 goals against average (5th) and .429 save percentage (6th) with 7.4 saves per game (6th) in 992:42 (3rd) over 18 games played.
Le Moyne, ranked No. 3 in the NCAA Division II East Regional rankings, enters Sunday's NE10 Championship winners of six-straight. The Dolphins are ranked third in the NE10 for both scoring offense (15.32 goals per game) and defense (9.42), ranking 18th nationally for defense and 19th in offense. Le Moyne leads the NE10 in turnovers (13.9 per game), good for tenth in Division II, while ranking third in the Conference with 15.5 draw controls per game.
Meneilly leads four All-NE10 selections for Le Moyne as one of three to earn first team honors. She leads the Dolphins with 60 goals (4th NE10) and four assists for 64 points (9th), adding 42 draw controls, 19 ground balls and 14 caused turnovers. Postgrad Sydney Meagher, also an All-10 first team selection, is third on the team with 53 points, totaling 36 goals and 17 assists, with 32 ground balls, 46 draw controls and 15 caused turnovers.
Senior Taylor Reich rounds out Le Moyne's All-NE10 first team selections, with the defender totaling 49 ground balls (4th), 45 draw controls and 19 caused turnovers, chipping in two goals and three assists. Postgrad Erin McMullen rounds out the Dolphins All-NE10 selections with second team honors, having posted 31 goals and 11 assists for 42 points, collecting a team-high 63 draws.
Junior Gemma Addonizio is second on the team for Le Moyne in scoring with 57 points, totaling 29 goals and a team-high 28 assists, while freshman defender Grace Brinza earned a spot on the NE10 All-Rookie Team. Crandall has seen the majority of time in the Dolphins goal, posting a 9.62 goals against average (3rd) and .429 save percentage (6th) with 6.0 saves per game in 947:38 over 19 games played.
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2022 Northeast-10 Conference
Women's Lacrosse Tournament
Quarterfinals
Wednesday, May 4 (at higher seeds)
#3 Le Moyne 20, #6 Southern New Hampshire 10
#2 Adelphi 8, #7 Bentley 6
#4 Pace 13, #5 Assumption 12
#1 Stonehill 18, #8 New Haven 8
Semifinals
Saturday, May 7
hosted by highest remaining seed
#1 Stonehill 20, #4 Pace 15
#3 Le Moyne 9, #2 Adelphi 8 (OT)*
*- game played at Bentley University (Waltham, Mass.)
Championship
Sunday, May 8
hosted by Stonehill College, Easton, Mass.
#3 Le Moyne (15-4, 10-3 NE10) at #1 Stonehill (16-2, 12-1 NE10), 1 p.m.
