STANDISH, Maine – Saint Joseph's College (4-3, 3-0 GNAC) rallied from an early two-goal deficit and scored three unanswered goals in the fourth quarter to defeat reigning conference champion Emmanuel College (4-4, 3-1 GNAC), 7-6, in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) women's lacrosse action at the SJC Athletic Complex on Saturday afternoon.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Emmanuel controlled the early action and grabbed a 2-0 lead late in the opening quarter behind goals from Emilia Ferraro (Burrillville, R.I.) and Rylie Hogan (Pelham, N.H.). Saint Joseph's answered before the end of the frame when junior Taylor Dumond (Minisink, N.Y.) converted a man-down free-position chance, and the Monks carried that momentum into the second quarter with another Dumond man-down tally and an unassisted goal by senior Sophia Burton (Minisink, N.Y.) to move in front, 3-2, with 10:17 left before the break.
The Monks' 3-2 edge held through halftime, but the Saints tied the game in the opening minute of the third quarter when Madeline Wright (Mattapoisett, Mass.) scored a man-up goal at the 14:07 mark. Sophomore Ella Highbarger (Kennebunk, Maine) put Saint Joseph's back in front off a feed from senior Celia Melanson (Waterford, Maine) with 4:40 left in the quarter, but Emmanuel answered with goals from Ferraro and Avery Robillard (Rowley, Mass.) just 1:14 apart to reclaim a 5-4 lead.
The Monks came up with the final push in the fourth quarter, as sophomore Zoey Lailer (Limington, Maine) tied the game off a Burton pass before Dumond scored twice in a 1:02 span to give the hosts a 7-5 advantage. Emmanuel pulled back within one when Ella Stein (Ipswich, Mass.) netted a free-position goal with 1:03 remaining and applied pressure in the closing moments, but Saint Joseph's held on for the 7-6 victory.
STATS OF THE GAME:
Saint Joseph's held a 29-19 advantage in ground balls, while Emmanuel led in shots (21-19), shots on goal (13-12), caused turnovers (14-11), and draw controls (10-5). The Saints were undone by 25 turnovers, however, while the Monks converted enough key chances to overcome 22 turnovers of their own.
THE KEEPERS:
Saint Joseph's junior netminder Julia Price (Newbury, Mass.) played all 60 minutes and made seven saves in the victory while Emmanuel sophomore Keira Walsh (Nashua, N.H.) turned aside five shots in the loss.
LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:
- Taylor Dumond – 4 goals, 4 ground balls
- Sophia Burton – 1 goal, 3 assists
- Ella Highbarger – 1 goal, 3 ground balls, 3 caused turnovers
- Zoey Lailer – 1 goal, 3 ground balls
- Ava Molineaux (So., Rowley, Mass.) – 5 ground balls, 3 draw controls, 2 caused turnovers
- Celia Melanson – 1 assist, 4 ground balls, 1 caused turnover
- Dinah Wadleigh (Jr., Augusta, Maine) – 4 ground balls
LEADERS – EMMANUEL:
- Emilia Ferraro – 2 goals
- Avery Robillard – 1 goal, 1 assist
- Madeline Wright – 1 goal, 8 shots, 6 draw controls
- Ella Stein – 1 goal, 2 caused turnovers
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
With the win, Saint Joseph's improved to 15-4 in the all-time series with Emmanuel College. The teams split a pair of meetings last spring, with the Monks earning a 16-8 regular-season victory before the Saints claimed a 9-4 decision in the GNAC Tournament semifinals.
NEXT!
The Monks travel to Colby-Sawyer College on Wednesday for a conference contest scheduled to begin at 4:00 PM.
