NEWTON, Mass. – For the second consecutive season, the Mount Ida women's lacrosse team, who earned the #6 seed in this year's Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) tournament will head to Boston to take on the #3 seed Saints of Emmanuel College in the conference quarterfinals.
The Mustangs (4-12, 3-6 GNAC) will head to Emmanuel on Tuesday night to face the Saints (10-4, 7-2 GNAC) with game time slated for 8:15 PM. Just two weeks ago, the Saints traveled to Alumni Field and defeated the Mustangs by a final score of 22-7.
Historic Notes:
This will be Mount Ida's sixth postseason appearance in seven years as a varsity program and the Mustangs are looking to get back to the GNAC semifinals for the first time since 2011 when they faced off against the Cadets of Norwich University. Mount Ida's only postseason victory came in the 2011 quarterfinals when they beat Simmons by a final score of 9-8.
The Saints, who won the 2014 GNAC Championship game against St. Joseph's (Me.) by a final of 17-7 before losing in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to Wheaton College, are looking to get back to the title game for the first time in two years. Prior to winning the conference title, the Saints had made back to back tournament appearances, falling in the quarterfinals in both 2012 and 2013. Last year, the Saints made the semifinals of the GNAC tournament before falling to eventual champion St. Joseph's (Me.), 15-8.
How They Got Here:
Mount Ida finished the regular season campaign this past Saturday by rolling past Albertus Magnus en route to a convincing 22-7 victory while securing the #6 seed in this year's tournament. The Mustangs were 2-3 in their last five games of the season, while beating the likes of the Falcons and Raiders of Rivier, 16-15 back in mid-April.
Emmanuel comes in at 3-2 over their last five contests, one of which was a 14-9 non-conference victory over Regis College. Their two losses came against the defending champion Monks at Deering Memorial Stadium in Portland, Maine by a final of 19-6 before eventually losing on Senior Day 16-10 to the #2 seeded Wildcats of Johnson and Wales.
Who to Watch:
Mount Ida freshman Alyssa Kelly (Lee, Mass.) who currently sits in 4th place in the GNAC with 53 goals in her first season in a green and white uniform. Kelly has also registered a team high 22 assists which is good for 75 points, also good for 4th in the league. The freshman standout totaled a team high 57 ground balls, 61 draw controls and 27 caused turnovers.
Junior Nicole Pavao (Peabody, Mass.) is second on the team with 35 goals to go along with seven assists. Pavao led the Mustangs this past weekend against Albertus with six goals and one assist. The midfielder has grabbed 47 ground balls, good for 10th in the GNAC while also winning 28 draw controls.
Senior Samantha Basler (Plymouth, Mass) and Hayley Napier (Fairhaven, Mass.) have combined for 37 goals this year and 60 draw controls. Basler will be relied on alongside Kelly to secure the ball against a tough Emmanuel team on Tuesday evening.
Emily O'Connell (Dracut, Mass.), Nikki Kinneen (Salem, N.H.), and senior captain Briana Barker (Westerly, R.I.) have all tallied seven or more goals and will be looked upon to provide some additional offense against the Saints.
In between the pipes, freshman Jackie Tarsook (Derry, N.H.) has made 144 saves, good for third in the conference, and has a save percentage of 35.8%. Tarsook currently stands alone at second in the GNAC with 944:57 minutes played.
Emmanuel is once again led by one of the best offensive trios in the GNAC in Kristen Tuleja (Mansfield, Mass.), Sarah Higgins (Groveland, Mass.) and Emily Baker (Stratham, N.H.) who have combined to total 142 goals and 78 assists. Higgins is tied for 1st in the GNAC with total points at 84 while also sitting atop the league with 70 ground balls; the midfielder is tied for second with 93 draw controls. Tuleja sits with 73 points with a shot on goal percentage of 84.7%.
Savannah Lundwall (Fiskdale, Mass.), Amanda Cook (Saco, Me.) and Abaigeal Merrigan (Rye, N.H.) have all scored at least 13 goals apiece this season with Lundwall leading the bunch with 21 goals and seven assists.
Saints senior net minder Lauren White (Lynnfield, Mass.) has played 840:00 minutes this season while making 104 saves, good for 10 wins and a 71.4% winning percentage.
How to Watch:
Tuesday's game will have live stats which will be available via the following link:
http://www.goecsaints.com/sports/w-lacros/2015-16/boxscores/20160503_6a7p.xml
For complete GNAC women's lacrosse tournament info, please check out the link below.
Women's Lacrosse Tournament Info
Quarterfinals - Tuesday, May 3
Game 1: #8 Norwich at #1 Saint Joseph's Maine - 8:00 PM (Deering Stadium)
Game 2: #5 Simmons at #4 Lasell - 3:30 PM
Game 3: #6 Mount Ida at #3 Emmanuel - 8:15PM
Game 4: #7 Rivier at #2 Johnson & Wales - 7:00 PM
Semifinals - Thursday, May 5
Game 5: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner
Game 6: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner
Championship - Saturday, May 7
Game 7: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner