STANDISH, Maine – Top-seeded Saint Joseph's College (20-0) overcame a 6-3 halftime deficit to defeat #3 Johnson & Wales University (14-6), 10-9, in the 2022 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Women's Lacrosse Championship at the SJC Athletics Complex on Saturday afternoon.

With the win, Saint Joseph's claims the second GNAC title in team history and earns the GNAC's automatic qualifier into the NCAA DIII Women's Lacrosse Championship Tournament. The entire bracket will be announced via live selection show on www.ncaa.com on Monday at 10:30 AM. First round action is scheduled to begin on Saturday, May 14th.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

The Monks trailed, 2-1, going into the second stanza and received goals from sophomore Cailyn Wesley (Peabody, Mass.) and grad student Lydia Dexter (Oakland, Maine) to grab a 3-2 lead with 7:09 before the break. The Wildcats proceeded to close out the first half on a 4-0 run as Taina Gamory (Warwick, R.I.) scored twice in a matter of three minutes to lift her team to a 6-3 halftime cushion.

As it played out, Head Coach David Keenan's halftime adjustments paid dividends as the Monks kicked off the third quarter with four goals from four different players to take a 7-6 edge with 7:28 left in the penultimate period. The Wildcats regained the lead with a pair of Gamory tallies and held an 8-7 edge going into the final frame.

The scoring pendulum took its final swing in the fourth quarter as sophomore Bridget Collins (Milford, Conn.) and freshman Shauna Clark (Oakland, Maine) both netted free-position goals to provide the Monks with a 9-8 advantage with 8:18 on the clock. Five minutes midfielder Carson Battaglia (Gorham, Maine) potted a man-down goal to provide the Royal Blue with what proved to be a necessary insurance goal, as Gamory struck with another free-position tally with 51 seconds left to account for the 10-9 final.

TEAM STATS:

Saint Joseph's held the lead in shots (38-25), shots on goal (27-17) and ground balls (37-15) while Johnson & Wales notched a 15-8 advantage in draw controls on the afternoon.

THE KEEPERS:

SJC freshman keeper Morgan Wright (Chelmsford, Mass.) made seven saves with a pair of ground balls while JWU first-year netminder Emma Glyman (Tolland, Conn.) was impressive with 17 saves in the setback.

LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:

• Dexter tallied two goals and an assist with five ground balls, six draw controls and a pair of caused turnovers
• Collins scored three goals with four ground balls
• Battaglia added two goals, four ground balls and two caused turnovers
• Sophomore Madison Scott (Cumberland, Maine) led the SJC defensive effort with four ground balls and four caused turnovers

LEADERS – JOHNSON & WALES:

• Gamory scored a game-high five goals on nine shots with five draw controls and three caused turnovers
• Freshman Madeleine Gould (Oakdale, Conn.) added a goal and two assists
• Junior Margaret Johnson (Bear, Del.) chipped in with six draw controls

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM:

MVP - Lydia Dexter, Saint Joseph's
Shauna Clark, Saint Joseph's
Megan Mourmouras, Saint Joseph's
Tara Powers, Saint Joseph's
Bridget Collins, Saint Joseph's
Margaret Johnson, Johnson & Wales
Emma Glyman, Johnson & Wales
Ashley Tramonte, Johnson & Wales
Emi Boedeker, Simmons
Riley Wasiuk, Simmons
Chandra Franca, Emmanuel
Emma Crowley, Emmanuel

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