Franca Powers Women's Lacrosse Past Norwich in GNAC Quarterfinal Upset, 11-7

THE BASICS 

Score: 
No. 5 Emmanuel, 11 – No. 4 Norwich University, 7

Records: 
Emmanuel College Saints (10-7, 9-4 GNAC)
Norwich University Cadets (12-5, 10-3 GNAC)

Location: Northfield, Vt. – Sabine Field

Date: Saturday, April 30, 2022

THE LEAD – Senior Chandra Franca (Woburn, Mass.) scored a game-high five goals to propel No. 5 Emmanuel College past No. 4 Norwich University, 11-7, in the 2022 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Women's Lacrosse quarterfinals Saturday evening at Sabine Field in Northfield, Vt.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Saints never trailed in the opening round playoff contest, jumping out to an early 1-0 lead on first year Deja Srimouksavanh's (Portsmouth, N.H.) 25^th goal of the year, assisted by Franca.
• Norwich evened the score at 1-1 on an unassisted tally by Bianca Klepper (Upperville, Va.) before Franca and Srimouksavanh closed out the final two minutes of the first quarter with goals to give the visitors a 3-1 cushion but it was NU's Valentina Drown (Acton, Maine) who capped the quarter's scoring to make it 3-2 with just 17 seconds left on the clock.
• Three consecutive EC goals to open play in the second distanced the Saints to a 6-2 advantage on a pair of bookend goals by Franca with first year Rachel Canedy (Woodstock, Conn.) finding the back of the net in between. The Cadets once again rounded out the quarter's scoring as Leocadia Clark (Stowe, Vt.) scored just her fourth goal of the campaign to keep the hosts in striking distance at the half, trailing 6-3.
• EC opened its largest lead of the game in the third as junior Megan Steele (Auburn, Maine) scored with 9:18 on the clock to make it 7-3 before Franca made it a five-goal game at 8-3 with her 60^th goal of the campaign to become just the second player in program history to record 60+ goals in a season, joining Kristen Tuleja '16 who accomplished the feat twice ('14 & '16).
• Norwich regrouped and rattled off four unanswered goals to cut into the Saints lead as Michaila Furchak (Nyack, N.Y.) made it an 8-7 with 13:35 to play in the fourth.
• The Saints remained poised and senior Jessica Borduas (Woodbury, Conn.) sealed the win with a huge man-up insurance goal with 10:51 left in regulation to give EC the 9-7 lead.
• EC held the Cadets scoreless over the final 13 minutes of play with Steele and Franca scoring the final two goals of the night to account for the 11-7 final in upset road victory.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• EC senior goalie Emma Crowley (Peterborough, N.H.) made 10 saves in the victory while Katie Bishop-Manning (New York, N.Y.) turned away nine saves in a losing effort for NU.
• Along with a game-high five goals, Franca added two assists, seven groundballs and one caused turnover for Emmanuel.
• The Saints dominated the groundball matchup with a 55-39 advantage in the victory.
• NU owned the slim shots advantage, attempted 26 compared to the Saints 25 shots in the win.
• The victory marks the second consecutive season the program has advanced to the GNAC Semifinals.
• The win was the first in the postseason for the Saints over the Cadets as EC evens the all-time postseason series at 1-1 with the only other meeting coming back in 2012 with a 14-4 NU win.

UP NEXT

• Emmanuel moves on to the GNAC Semifinals and will face No. 1 Saint Joseph's College (ME) on Tuesday, May 3 in Standish, Maine. The Monks took care of business in the 1/8 match up vs. Elms, topping the Blazers by a 20-4 score earlier today.
• Norwich closes the 2022 campaign with a 12-5 overall mark.