Women’s Lacrosse Advances to GNAC Semis With 14-7 Win vs. Colby-Sawyer

THE BASICS 

Score: 
Emmanuel 14 – Colby-Sawyer 7

Records: 
Emmanuel College Saints (14-4, 10-3 GNAC)
Colby-Sawyer College Chargers (10-8, 8-5 GNAC)

Location: Boston, Mass. – Roberto Clemente Field

Date: Saturday, April 29, 2023

THE LEAD – Outscoring the Chargers 9-2 in the middle two quarters of the game, the Emmanuel Saints women's lacrosse team advances in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference playoffs following a 14-7 victory on Saturday afternoon at Clemente Field.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Saints were out to a quick 3-0 lead in the opening 4:44 of the first quarter. Goals by sophomore Rachel Canedy (Woodstock, Conn.), first-year Ella Marschitz (Naperville, Ill.), and sophomore Deja Srimouksavanh (Portsmouth, N.H.) lifted EC to the early 3-0 lead.
• The Chargers came back and responded with four consecutive tallies to take their first lead of the afternoon. Goals by first-year Cecilia Ponzini (Windham, N.H.), junior Olivia Romo (Marlboro, Vt.), and senior Hannah Marquis (Weare, N.H.) in just 54 seconds tied things at 3-3. Just 1:37 later, Marquis scored her second of the afternoon, giving CSC a 4-3 lead.
• First-year Broghan Laundry (Swampscott, Mass.) and Srimouksavanh had the final goals of the first quarter, scoring goals 48 seconds apart, helping Emmanuel to a 5-4 lead after one quarter.
• A defensive duel broke out in the second quarter as only two goals came in the frame, both scored by Emmanuel. It took over 10 minutes for EC to break through in the second, but first-year Livia Fedele (Spencerport, N.Y.) scored her first of the game with 4:46 left in the half. Junior Maddie Kross (Bolton, Conn.) scored 1:12 later on a free-position goal, giving the Saints a 7-4 halftime advantage.
• The Saints extended their lead in the third quarter, opening up their largest advantage of the game thanks to a 7-2 third quarter put forth by Emmanuel. Fedele and Romo traded goals early in the quarter before Canedy and Fedele combined for the next three tallies, giving EC an 11-5 lead. After a CSC goal cut the deficit to 11-6, another three-goal Emmanuel run over 2:30, bumped their edge to 14-6, through three quarters.
• Emmanuel's defense remained stout in the final 15 minutes while junior goalie Isabella Thomas (Miami, Fla.) made seven of her 13 saves in the fourth, allowing just a single goal to sophomore Sophia Kuhlthau (Cheshire, Conn.) in the frame, as the Saints advance to the GNAC Semifinals on the back of a 14-7 victory.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Fedele finished the match with a game-high four goals, giving her a team-high 42 goals on the season.
• Srimouksavanh added three goals and two assists to go along with three draw controls.
• Laundry and Canedy scored two goals each while Marschitz stuffed the stat sheet with a goal, six ground balls, three draw controls, and three caused turnovers.
• The strong defensive afternoon from Emmanuel came with senior Alyssa Santangeli (Watertown, Conn.) and sophomore Delaney Brown (Agawam, Mass.) each causing a team-high five turnovers.
• Thomas finished with 13 stops on 20 shots on goal, improving to 11-4 with the victory.
• For CSC, Kuhlthau, Romo, and Marquis all finished with a pair of goals. Kuhlthau added three draw controls in the defeat.
• Sophomore Hannah Himes (Williston, Vt.) was a defensive wall for the Chargers, finishing with a career-high nine caused turnovers and matching a career-best with eight ground balls.
• Fellow sophomore Heather Hanson (Barnstable, Mass.) finished the afternoon with six caused turnovers, five draw controls, and four ground balls.
• Sophomore AJ Paton (Exeter, N.H.) made six saves for the Chargers and finishes the year with a record of 10-8.

UP NEXT

• The Saints await the winner of the No. 1 seed Johnson & Wales vs. No. 8 seed Elms match happening on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. A JWU win would send the Saints to Providence while an Elms win would keep EC on Clemente Field. The date of the GNAC Semifinal Round is set for Wednesday, May 3, but game times have yet to be announced.