No. 5 Women's Lacrosse Faces Unbeaten, No. 1 St. Joe's in GNAC Semis

BOSTON – Advancing to the semifinal round of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Women’s Lacrosse Playoffs, the No. 5 seeded Emmanuel College Saints prepare to face the No. 1 seeded Saint Joseph’s College Monks on Tuesday, May 3 at 6:00 p.m. at the Saint Joseph’s Athletic Complex in Standish, Maine.

No. 5 Women's Lacrosse Faces Unbeaten, No. 1 St. Joe's in GNAC Semis
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May 3, 2022

BOSTON – Advancing to the semifinal round of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Women's Lacrosse Playoffs, the No. 5 seeded Emmanuel College Saints prepare to face the No. 1 seeded Saint Joseph's College Monks on Tuesday, May 3 at 7:00 p.m. at the Saint Joseph's Athletic Complex in Standish, Maine.

The Saints enter Tuesday night's game at 10-7 this season and advanced to the semifinals via an 11-7 victory at Norwich in the GNAC Quarterfinals. The Monks are unbeaten, a perfect 18-0 while making their way into the semifinals following a 20-4 win over Elms to start their GNAC Postseason.

OVERVIEW

The winner of Tuesday's GNAC Semifinal is off to the GNAC Championship Game on Saturday, May 7, hosted by the highest seed remaining in the tournament. On the other side of the bracket, the No. 2 Simmons Sharks host the No. 3 Johnson & Wales Wildcats on Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. for a spot in the championship.

With the Saints being the No. 5 seed and lowest seed remaining, a win on Tuesday against the Monks would have EC traveling to the winner of Simmons and Johnson & Wales for the GNAC Championship on May 7. A win for the No. 1 Monks means the GNAC Title Game goes to SJC to decide the conference champion.

SEASON AT A GLANCE

Emmanuel:

  • The Saints offense comes into Tuesday's action ranked fifth in the conference in total goals (215) and goals scored per game (12.65). All four remaining teams have at least 200 goals scored this season.
  • ECs defensive numbers fair better against other GNAC opponents. Emmanuel ranks fourth in goals against average (9.92) this year. In a display of solid defensive numbers, each of the remaining teams in the playoffs have a GAA of under 10.00.
  • The Saints are riding the momentum of April into the GNAC Semifinals, finishing the month 7-2, including a five-game winning streak that saw EC outscore opponents 94-42 during that streak.
  • Emmanuel appears well-prepared when it comes to road games, putting up a 7-4 record away from Clemente Field this year. The Saints have won their last four road games against GNAC opponents, including last Saturday's playoff win at Norwich.

Saint Joseph's:

  • The Monks scoring offense is one of the nation's best as their GNAC-leading 322 total goals translates into a 17.89 goals per game average, ranking ninth among all NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse programs.
  • For as good as the SJC offense is, the numbers suggest their defensive could be even better. Saint Joseph's allowed just 98 goals in 18 games for a 5.44 goals GAA, fourth-lowest in the country.
  • The Monks come into Tuesday's game as just one of five teams in Division III with an undefeated record, including 11-0 at home this season.
  • In 18 games in 2022, SJC has allowed only two teams to score 10 or more goals with the last such case coming on March 22 in a 14-13 overtime victory against Simmons; a game that ultimately decided home-field for the GNAC Postseason.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Emmanuel:

  • Senior Chandra Franca (Woburn, Mass.) continues her strong campaign, bringing 61 goals into Tuesday's play to be one of only six players in the GNAC this season with at least 60 goals. In program history, Franca became just the second Saints player to ever reach 60 goals in a single season. Her 75-point season ranks fourth for a single season in program history while her 145 career point total is fifth-best in program history.
  • Fellow senior Jessica Borduas (Woodbury, Conn.) ranks second on the Saints with 43 points. Now at career-highs of 26 goals, 17 assists, and 43 points, Borduas recently slid into the top-10 in career points in EC program history.
  • Junior Megan Steele (Auburn, Maine) continues to grow on her career-best year, now at 30 goals, 10 assists, and 40 points. Steele and Franca are the only Saints with at least 30 goals this year.
  • First-years Deja Srimouksavanh (Portsmouth, R.I.) and Anna Drillen (Readfield, Maine) both eclipsed the 20-goal mark as rookies. Srimouksavanh leads all Saints first-year players with 26 goals while Drillen is not far behind with 21. In addition to her 21 goals, Drillen leads the Saints with 99 draw controls and sits just three draw controls away from setting the Saints single-season program record for draw controls in a season.
  • Impacting the defensive end, first-year Delaney Brown (Agawam, Mass.) leads the Saints with 43 ground balls and 30 caused turnovers. Brown ranks 11th in the conference in caused turnovers and fourth in the stat among all first-year GNAC players.
  • Senior Emma Crowley (Peterborough, Maine) will guard the goal for EC in the GNAC Semifinals. If Crowley surpasses 15 minutes played in Tuesday's semifinal, she will become just the second Saints goalie to ever play 1,000 minutes in a season for Emmanuel. Crowley enters play with a 10-7 record and 9.93 GAA this season.

Saint Joseph's:

  • Graduate attack Lydia Dexter (Oakland, Maine) is producing the best season in Monks program history. Dexter enters the GNAC Semifinal with 148 points on 75 goals and 73 assists. The 148 points are the most among all women's lacrosse players across NCAA Divisions I, II, and III. She is the only player in Division III to rank inside the top-10 nationally in both goals and assists, ranking ninth and third, respectively.
  • Sophomore Bridget Collins (Milford, Conn.) is second on the team in goals, netting a career-high 47 on the season. Collins has added a dozen assists to sit at 59 points entering Tuesday's game.
  • Sophomores Cailyn Wesley (Peabody, Mass.) and Carson Battaglia (Gorham, Maine) each have 37 goals this year. Battaglia leads the GNAC with 133 draw controls, averaging 7.82 DCs/game, an average that is 17th best in Division III.
  • First-year Morgan Wright (Chelmsford, Mass.) is making a name for herself in goal for the Monks as a rookie. Wright is 14-0 this season with a 5.01 GAA, the lowest in the nation among qualified goalies in Division III. Her 49.5 save percentage sits seventh in the conference entering the GNAC Semifinals.

COACHES CORNER

Liz Maloney – Emmanuel – (19-8, .704) – 3rd Season

Maloney has led the Saints to three straight winning seasons since taking over in 2020. A former Saints assistant turned head coach, Maloney has the highest winning percentage for any head coach in program history while holding an impressive 13-4 record (.765) against GNAC opponents in regular season games.

David Keenan – Saint Joseph's – (28-3, .903) – 3rd Season

Similar to Maloney for the Saints, Keenan started his journey with Saint Joseph's as an assistant coach for the Monks. After one season as an assistant, he was promoted to head coach of SJC and has amassed a sparkling 28-3 record (15-1 GNAC) in three seasons while having his one loss to a GNAC opponent in the regular season come in an overtime defeat at Johnson & Wales in 2021.

LAST TIME WE MET

In a mid-season conference game at Saint Joseph's, the Monks overcame an early deficit to take home a 17-7 victory over Emmanuel on March 26. SJC improved to 9-0 in that victory while the Saints fell to 3-5.

The Saints held a 4-2 lead after the first quarter in the March 26 meeting, but the Monks used a 5-0 second quarter, scoring all five of their goals in over 6:13, to hold a 7-4 halftime lead. SJC upped their lead in the third to 12-7, and used another 5-0 quarter, this time in the fourth, on the way to a 17-7 win.

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING

In 13 all-time meetings, the Saints hold a 2-11 record against the Monks with EC being winless in the last seven meetings.

POSTSEASON HISTORY

The Saints and Monks have met three times in postseason history, all over a three-year span from 2013 to 2015. In those three games, Emmanuel has a 1-2 record vs. Saint Joseph's, with the lone Saints win coming in the 2014 GNAC Championship Game.

In GNAC Playoff history, both teams sit at a .500 winning percentage as the Saints come into play with a 7-7 all-time playoff record while the Monks start Tuesday's semifinal with a 9-9 all-time mark in postseason play.

COVERAGE

Tuesday's GNAC Semifinal Game between the No. 1 Saint Joseph's Monks and No. 5 Emmanuel Saints can be followed by using the "Live Video Stream" and "Live Stats" links below.

LIVE VIDEO STREAM

LIVE STATS