BOSTON – Emmanuel women's lacrosse will have the opportunity to retain its conference championship thanks to a Tuesday night, 13-5 win over the Norwich Cadets in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Semifinals from Clemente Field. It's the Saints third consecutive trip to the title game, as Emmanuel improves to 15-4 with the win. The Cadets season comes to a close at 14-4.
After a 2-1 opening quarter at Clemente, the Saints made their first push ahead with senior
Madeline Wright scoring back-to-back goals in a span of 2:19, to give the home team a 4-1 edge. After a Cadets goal by
Sophia Albright, Emmanuel pulled away with three goals to close out the quarter, all coming in the final 3:37.
A trio of sophomores contributed to the quarter-ending run with
Emilia Ferraro opening the run with 3:37 remaining, followed by
Anna Nichols scoring with 2:56 to go. In the final seconds, the Saints forced a turnover, allowing
Hannah Hoenshell to score with 8.1 seconds left in the half, helping the Saints to a 7-2 lead at the half.
A comfortable lead for the Saints stretched through the third quarter and early into the fourth quarter, as Emmanuel held a 9-4 lead. The home team made their final statement with a four-goal run, boosting the advantage to 13-4. The final tally of the night belonged to the Cadets, but Emmanuel heads into its third straight conference championship game with a 13-5 victory.
Wright finished with three goals and two assists for a five-point night. Ferraro, Hoenshell, Nichols, and senior
Ella Marschitz all added two goals on the night. After a seven-ground-ball performance in the quarterfinals, senior
Halle Miller led all players with six ground balls. Sophomore goalie
Keira Walsh made nine stops for the Saints.
The Saints will travel to the top-seeded Saint Joseph's College Monks on Saturday, May 2, for the GNAC Championship game, with the time yet to be announced. The Monks pulled out a 7-6 win over the Saints in the regular season on the way to earning home-field advantage in the playoffs.
