LATE GOAL ENDS WOMEN'S LAX GNAC TOURNEY RUN; SAINTS FALL TO JWU, 9-8

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Emmanuel College women's lacrosse team surrendered a late second half lead to fall in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference tournament semifinals to Johnson & Wales University, 9-8, Thursdays evening at SMG Athletic Complex. The No. 2 Wildcats (13-5) advance to the GNAC finals for the first time in program history while the loss ends the Saints season with an 11-5 mark.

EC was in control for most of the first half action, jumping out to an early 2-1 lead behind goals from senior Sarah Higgins (Groveland, Mass.) and junior Savannah Lundwall (Fiskdale, Mass.). JWU responded with back-to-back scores by Marissa Hart (Cohoes, N.Y.) and Raquel Pederzani (Coventry, R.I.) to jump ahead to a 3-2 advantage with 20:00 minutes to play in the stanza.

The Saints turned it on and over the next 15 minutes of play outscored the hosts 4-0 to take a 6-3 lead with 4:52 left in the half. Senior Kristen Tuleja (Mansfield, Mass.) scored three straight goals before Lundwall capped the flurry with her second goal of the night to bump the visitor's lead to three with under five to play.

Johnson & Wales took the punches and came back swinging to make it a one-goal game by the halftime horn as junior Lydia Knapp (Glens Falls, N.Y.) and Pederzani found the back of the net before the intermission to cut the Saints lead to 6-5.

Emmanuel opened the second half with an offensive burst from Higgins as the senior scored her 53^rd goal of the season to bump the lead up to 7-5. The goal was the 148^th of her career and ultimately the final tally as the Saints' offensive leader went down minutes later with a serious knee injury, sidelining her for the remainder of the action.

With Higgins out, the feel for the game changed and the Wildcats seized the opportunity by tying the game with consecutive scores by Pederzani and sophomore Gabrielle Vasile (Milford, Mass.) to make it 7-7 with 20:20 left in regulation.

With the score knotted at 7-7, both teams went into an offensive stalemate to slow the game down, ensuring that every look was a goal scoring opportunity. Emmanuel broke through with 16:10 to play as Tuleja registered her team-leading 68^th goal of the year to give the Saints an 8-7 lead.

Down the stretch with 5:02 to play, JWU tied the game at 8-8 as Pederzani deposited her fourth goal of the contest with the help of an assist from Hart.

Both squads had offensive possessions over the final minutes to try and seal the game. Emmanuel had the ball in front of its own bench with a minute and change to play but a costly turnover gave the hosts the ball for the final minute of regulation. With 20 seconds to play JWU began its assault on the net, firing a shot wide but on the restart, Hart lobbed a pass up over the Emmanuel defense to freshman Alison Pazienski (Hyde Park, N.Y.). The rookie netted the biggest goal of her collegiate career, beating EC senior goalie Lauren White (Lynnfield, Mass.) with just 12 seconds to play to carry Johnson & Wales into the GNAC Championship.

White was phenomenal in the last game of her career, tying a season-high by making 14 saves. JWU senior Cristal Benton (Albany, N.Y.) made five stops for the hosts to earn the "W".

Johnson & Wales will take on the winner of No. 1 Saint Joseph's (ME) vs. No. 4 Lasell College at the site of the highest remaining seed on Saturday, May 7.