No.1 North Emmanuel Hosts No. 1 South Johnson & Wales on Sunday for GNAC Crown

BOSTON – Back in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Championship Game for the first time since 2021, the Emmanuel Saints women's lacrosse team seeks their second-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament as they host the No. 1 South-seeded Johnson & Wales Wildcats on Sunday morning at 11:00 a.m. on Clemente Field.

The Saints enter Sunday's Final at 15-4 overall and bring a program-record 12-game winning streak into play after defeating Colby-Sawyer on Tuesday night, 18-5. Johnson & Wales comes in at 14-4 this season including a six-game winning streak after their GNAC Semifinal win over Saint Joseph's College, 15-8.

After their third undefeated conference regular season in program history, the Emmanuel Saints women's lacrosse program earned hosting duties throughout the playoffs after a regular season victory over Johnson & Wales on April 13 gave them the tiebreaker over the Wildcats.

Emmanuel's high-octane offense and lockdown defense have played their parts in the success of the Saints this season. Including the playoffs, the Saints have scored the most goals against GNAC opponents (203) while allowing the second-fewest (81) this season.

Leading the Saints offense is the 1-2 punch of sophomores Livia Fedele (Spencerport, N.Y.) and Madeline Wright (Mattapoisett, Mass.), who come into the GNAC Championship Game with 81 and 78 points, respectively. The sophomore duo are two of eight players in the conference with at least 75 points this season.

Fedele, who reached the 100-career point mark earlier this season, is continuing to build on what was an impressive rookie season for the Saints. The second-year attack has 50 goals, 31 assists, and 81 points, making her the third player in team history to eclipse 80 points in a single season.

Wright, a UMass Dartmouth transfer and the Little East Conference (LEC) Rookie of the Year in 2023, made her presence felt after setting the single-season program record for goals with 70 this season. With two more points, Wright and Fedele would become the second pair of teammates with 80-point seasons in the same season, matching Kristen Tuleja (88 points) and Sarah Higgins (86 points) in 2016.

Junior Dejaliyah Srimouksavanh (Portsmouth, N.H.) is third on the team with 57 points, sophomore Ella Marschitz (Naperville, Ill.) is next with 43 points, and sophomore Avery Robillard (Rowley, Mass.) rounds out the top-five Saints point-getters with 30 this year.

On the defensive side, junior Delaney Brown (Agawam, Mass.) has been excellent in her third season, setting a new program record for caused turnovers in a single season with 54 caused turnovers. Her 62 ground balls also leads all Saints.

Second among Saints defenders in the caused turnover stat is sophomore Alexandra Gencarelli (Bradford, R.I.), whose 21 CT's are good for fourth-most on the team. Brown, Wright, Srimouksavanh, and Gencarelli are among a group of four Saints who average at least one ground ball and one caused turnover per game.

Between the pipes for the Saints is junior Isabella Thomas (Miami, Fla.), who has played all 1,140 minutes in goal this season, making her the program record holder for single-season minutes played in goal.

Thomas is enjoying career-highs in wins and goals against average this season. Among all GNAC goalies with at least 10 starts, Thomas ranks first with 15 wins and second with an 8.32 GAA. As it stands, the GAA would make Thomas just the second player in team history with a season GAA under 10.00.

One of the most prolific players in Chargers history, junior Heather Hanson (Barnstable, Mass.) leads the team with 48 goals, 23 assists, and 71 points. The junior midfielder is looking for her third-straight 75-point season while her 221 career points already rank fourth in team history.

Countering the Saints offensive combination are Wildcats junior Madeleine Gould (Oakdale, Conn.) and senior Maris DiBeneditto (Southbury, Conn.). Gould leads all players in the conference with 94 points on 55 goals and 39 assists. With six more points, Gould would become the fifth player in JWU history to reach 100 points in a season. DiBeneditto leads the Wildcats with 58 goals to go with 18 assists for 74 points.

Sophomore Izzy Babb (Windham, Maine) is third on the team with 59 points on 32 goals and 27 assists. Fourth in scoring is senior Katie Sloan (Elliott City, Md.) with 42 points while junior Neely Connor (Kennebunk, Maine) rounds out the top-five with 33 points.

Defensively, five Wildcats average at least one caused turnover per game, including Babb, Sloan, and Connor. With 33 points, Connor leads JWU with 35 CT's to go along with a team-high 77 ground balls. Junior Isabella Nugent (Virginia Beach, Va.) causes 27 turnovers per game while adding 41 ground balls.

In the battle of the goalies, the Wildcats will start junior Emma Glyman (Tolland, Conn.), the GNAC leader in GAA with a 7.38 and second in save percentage at 52.0 percent, among goalies with at least 12 starts.

Now in her third season with Johnson & Wales, Glyman has proved to be among the all-time great goalies in Wildcats history, holding the best career save percentage and goals against average in team history.

The Saints and Wildcats met on Saturday, April 13, with the de facto No. 1 seed and home-field advantage on the line that afternoon. In a back-and-forth GNAC classic, the Saints outscored the Wildcats 6-3 in the final quarter, including the game-winning goal by Wright, as the horn sounded, giving Emmanuel a 14-13 victory.

All-time the Saints are 3-10 against the Wildcats. In the last Championship meeting between the Saints and Wildcats in 2021, JWU traveled to Clemente Field and defeated Emmanuel, 16-12, claiming the GNAC Title and automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.

Sunday's winner secures the GNAC's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. The Women's Lacrosse Division III Selection Show will be held on Monday, May 6, at 10:30 a.m., exclusively on NCAA.com.