JWU Upsets Women's Lacrosse in GNAC Championship, 16-12

THE BASICS 

Score:             
Johnson & Wales University, 16; Emmanuel College, 12
Records:         
Emmanuel College Saints (8-1, 4-0 GNAC)
Johnson & Wales University Wildcats (7-3, 3-2 GNAC)
Location:         
Boston, Mass. – Roberto Clemente Field
Date:               
Saturday, May 1, 2021

THE LEAD:  No. 3 Johnson & Wales University scored seven consecutive first half goals to build and hold the lead over top-seeded Emmanuel College en route to a 16-12 victory in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference women's lacrosse championship Saturday afternoon at Roberto Clement Field.  

HOW IT HAPPENED  

• Emmanuel opened the game strong with a quick goal by Allison Hutchings (Billerica, Mass.) just 30 seconds into the action followed by a score from junior Chandra Franca (Woburn, Mass.) to make it 2-0 through early on.
• The Wildcats answered as senior Dani Lydecker (Valley Cottage, N.Y.) scored three-straight to open a 7-0 scoring flurry, giving JWU the lead for good with 12:15 to play in the half.
• EC made a push to close the stanza as Franca scored twice over the final 1:32 of the period to pull the Saints to a 7-4 halftime score.
• After trading goals to open the second half and make it 8-5, the Wildcats put together a 4-0 scoring spurt to take control of the action fueled by back-to-back goals from sophomore Kayla Datys (Warwick, R.I.) to make it a 12-5 game.
• The Saints showed some poise and clawed back with five straight scores including two more from Franca as well as scores from seniors Elizabeth Fortier (Newburyport, Mass.), Emily Saef (Moultonborough, N.H.) and Hutchings to get to within a pair at 12-10 with 12:47 to play.
• Emmanuel won the ensuing draw but got ahead of themselves with a turnover in their offensive zone that the Wildcats capitalized on by going down and scoring on a Hadley Borkowski (Allentown, N.J.) tally to bump the visitor lead to 13-10.
• First year Katie Sloan (Ellicott City, Md.) tacked on two free position shot goals late in the action for the Wildcats and the JWU defense stayed strong down the stretch including two big saves from senior Paiton Luis (South Hadley, Mass.) in goal to ride out the clock and hold on for the 16-12 win.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS 

• Luis made six saves in her first win in goal of the season for JWU while EC junior goalie Emma Crowley (Peterborough, N.H.) made a career-high 17 saves in the losing effort, the first of her collegiate career.
• Franca led all scorers with five goals on the day while Lydecker and Datys led JWU with four goals each.
• The Wildcats defense forced Emmanuel into committing 22 turnovers on the day and also JWU won the draw control match-up by a 17-13 margin.
• Johnson & Wales outshot the Saints by a 41-19 margin, landing 33 on frame for their highest total of the season.
• After dropping three-straight to open the campaign, the Wildcats have now won seven in a row and are averaging 17.14 goals per game during the streak.
• The loss is Emmanuel's first defeat since April 27, 2019 ending a nine-game winning streak spanning over two COVID-shortened seasons.

2021 GNAC WOMEN'S LACROSSE ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM 

Reagan Hackey – Anna Maria College
Ashley Rugo – Anna Maria College
Catie Grady – Lasell University
Jordan McComb – Lasell University
Elizabeth Fortier – Emmanuel College
Chandra Franca – Emmanuel College
Emily Saef – Emmanuel College
Katie Sloan – Johnson & Wales University
Hadley Borkowski – Johnson & Wales University
Marley Medina – Johnson & Wales University
Dani Lydecker – Johnson & Wales University
MVP – Paiton Luis – Johnson & Wales University

UP NEXT

• With the win, the Wildcats earn the GNAC's automatic qualifier to the 2021 NCAA Women's Lacrosse tournament and will find out their opponent on the D-III selection show on Monday, May 3 at 10:30 AM.
• Emmanuel will tune in to the selection show as well, hoping for an at large bid to the dance after earning the New England region's No. 1 ranking earlier this week.