AMHERST, Mass. – The Saint Joseph's women's lacrosse team fell to UMass, 18-7, in the Atlantic 10 championship game at Garber Field on Sunday afternoon.
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Second-seeded tournament host UMass (15-2) had control early, but only found the net once before
Bridget Cerciello equalized four-plus minutes in. The Minutewomen would then score twice in quick succession to take a 3-1 lead with 23:38 to go in the first half.
• Fourth-seeded Saint Joseph's (10-7) then went on a run of its own, tallying the next three goals to take the lead.
Riley Delaney converted a free position attempt before setting up
Stephanie Kelly for a game-tying goal at 20:26.
•
Sophia Kolkka then scored on a free position attempt of her own to put the Hawks on top, 4-3, with 14:22 to play in the first.
• The hosts then went on a 7-0 run to seize control of the game. Kelly put an end to the run, scoring a goal with 4:16 to go, but the Minutewomen would take a 10-5 lead into the break.
• UMass would keep the momentum coming out of the locker room, scoring six in a row to take a commanding lead.
Julia Pash then scored one for the Hawks on an assist from Kelly before
Alyssa Manley scored the game's final goal on an assist from
Lauren Figura.
BEHIND THE BOX SCORE
• Kelly's second goal of the day was her 90th point of the season, setting a new SJU single-season record. She had previously set the single-season assist record on Friday after breaking the career assist mark earlier in the season.
• UMass held a 25-2 advantage in draw controls that led to a 38-16 edge in shots for the day.
•
Melissa Semkiw made nine saves for SJU, while Lauren Hiller had six for UMass.
• Kaitlyn Cerasi, the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, led all scorers with four goals and seven points. NCAA leader Caitlyn Petro corralled 16 draws in the game, while Kolkka scooped up a game-high five ground balls and Pash added four.
• Cerciello, Kelly, Kolkka, and Semkiw were named to the All-Championship Team for their performance in the Hawks' two postseason games.
