Women's Lacrosse Claims 18-5 Win in GNAC Semis, Advances to Conference Championship Game
BOSTON – Scoring eight straight goals in the first half, Emmanuel women’s lacrosse provided plenty of scoring on their way back to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Championship Game, following an 18-5 victory over the Colby-Sawyer Chargers, on Tuesday evening at Clemente Field in the GNAC Semifinals.
BOSTON – Scoring eight straight goals in the first half, Emmanuel women's lacrosse provided plenty of scoring on their way back to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Championship Game, following an 18-5 victory over the Colby-Sawyer Chargers, on Tuesday evening at Clemente Field in the GNAC Semifinals.
The eight-goal run came over a 15:53 span between the middle of the first quarter through the middle of the second quarter. The offensive outburst helped the Saints improve to 15-4 this season while the loss brings the Chargers season to an end at 13-5.
Colby-Sawyer started the scoring just 73 seconds into the game with junior Soph Kuhlthau (Cheshire, Conn.) giving the Chargers a 1-0 lead before the Saints onslaught on goal started nearly five minutes later. Sophomore Livia Fedele (Spencerport, N.Y.) tied the game 1-1 with 8:11 remaining in the first, kicking off the outburst.
Senior Maddie Kross (Bolton, Conn.) and sophomore Madeline Wright (Mattapoisett, Mass.) scored 28 seconds apart, both in the final minute of the quarter, giving Emmanuel a 3-1 lead after the first quarter.
Sophomore Avery Robillard (Rowley, Mass.) opened the second quarter scoring 32 seconds in, helping the Saints a 4-1 edge. After another Emmanuel tally made it 5-1, Robillard, Fedele, and sophomore Brianna Stephenson (Waterboro, Maine) combined for three goals in a 1:05 span, ending the Saints eight-goal run, giving them an 8-1 lead.
Chargers first-year Rose Finlayson (Hopkinton, N.H.) managed to break the run with 6:27 remaining in the half, pulling Colby-Sawyer back to within a half dozen. But the Saints finished off a 7-1 second-quarter advantage with two more tallies before the break, giving Emmanuel a 10-2 halftime lead.
The Chargers never got closer than seven in the second half, being outscored 8-3 over the final 30 minutes. Junior Dejaliyah Srimouksavanh (Portsmouth, N.H.) scored a free-position goal with 2:12 remaining in the third, giving the Saints a 14-4 lead and giving the junior midfielder her 100th career goal.
Fedele finished the night with a game-high six points on four goals and two assists. Srimouksavanh added three goals and two assists while becoming just the fifth player in program history to record 100 career goals. Wright finished with a hat trick, breaking the program record for goals in a single-season, giving her 70 on the year. Junior Isabella Thomas (Miami, Fla.) made a pair of stops on the night, but the improvement to 15-4 this season ties the team record for most wins by a goalie in team history.
Five different Chargers found the net on Tuesday night with junior Heather Hanson (Barnstable, Mass.) recording one goal and one assist. Kuhlthau, Finlayson, graduate Sydney Stevens (Laconia, N.H.), and sophomore Cecilia Ponzini (Windham, N.H.) all added one goal for the visitors. Junior goalie AJ Paton (Exeter, N.H.) made nine saves in the loss.
The Saints move into the GNAC Championship Game for the first time since 2021 and face off in a rematch of the 2021 Final with the No. 1 South-seeded Johnson & Wales Wildcats coming to Clemente Field this weekend.
