Lock Haven Top West Chester 16-6 for PSAC Lacrosse Championship
Lock Haven claimed its second straight PSAC championship with a 16-6 win over West Chester on Saturday afternoon.
Updated Tournament Schedule
Saturday, May 1 - Championship
Lock Haven 16, West Chester 6
Story Courtesy of Lock Haven Sports Information
The No. 3 Lock Haven University lacrosse team dominated rival West Chester University 16-6 today in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) championship match to defend their title.
Lock Haven has now captured the PSAC Championship in back-to-back seasons.
Today’s win was the definition of a true team effort for the Lady Eagles. The Haven’s offense, defense and midfield transition game seemed to mesh together as one cohesive unit.
“In the locker room this morning this team had a message they wanted to send and I think they sent it loud and clear.”
“Head, heart, hustle and teamwork won this game for us today,” said Lock Haven head coach Kristen Selvage.
Haven goalkeeper Kira Nuttall (Baltimore/Loch Raven) was a huge factor in the Lady Eagles defending their title.
Nuttall made 12 incredible saves between the pipes and might have been mistaken for a field player on multiple occasions as her play out of the goal circle was just as phenomenal.
“Our defense played awesome. We only let up for about three minutes, but we regrouped and played as a unit the entire game.”
We really capitalized on their weaknesses and our offense slowed it down and took care of business; it was a whole team effort,” said Nuttall.
“Kira played amazing in cage once again coming up with incredible saves,” Selvage said of her senior goalkeeper.
Nuttall and fellow seniors Leigh Titus (Towaco, N.J./Montville) and Krystalle Neighbor (Dunellen, N.J./Rutgers Prepatory) used their experience to lead the Lady Eagles as the three veterans have competed in the last four PSAC title games together.
Titus was named the PSAC tournament MVP after matching yesterday’s four goals and adding one assist and four draw controls on the day.
“I don’t think you can choose just one MVP; everybody deserved it. We all did our part to win the championship,” Titus said of today’s win.
Neighbor and the core of Lady Eagle defenders shut down WCU’s offensive attack time and time again today holding West Chester to their lowest scoring game all season.
“Our triple threat of Katie McConnell (Cinnaminson, N.J./Holy Cross), Katie Zichelli (South Orange, N.J./Columbia) and Neighbor played amazing on defense for us,” Selvage said.
“We connected well and played very selflessly all game,” Selvage also said of the potent Lady Eagle offense.
Kate Smyth (Levittown, Pa./Pennsbury) has been explosive with the ball in tournament action and tallied two goals and a game-high four assists.
Elyse Fisher’s (Jackson, N.J./Jackson Memorial) hustle and tireless efforts up and down the field helped her find the back of the net three times and add one assist for the Lady Eagles.
Kayleigh Johnson (Fairport, N.Y./Fairport) added two goals and an assist on the afternoon.
Allison Berger (Oreland, Pa./Springfield) scored two of her three goals in the first 11 minutes of play to give LHU the early 3-0 lead.
Gwen Buss (Harrisburg, Pa./Mercersburg Academy) and Emily Cilla (Kings Park, N.Y./Kings Park) rounded out the scoring column for the Lady Eagles adding one goal each.
Alex Cross (Owego, N.Y./Owego) and Clare Gaeng (Frederick, Md./Governor Thomas Jefferson) contributed a little bit of everything in today’s win.
Cross dished out one assist, scooped up three ground balls and caused two turnovers while Gaeng recorded one assist, two ground balls and a caused turnover.
The first half was controlled by Lock Haven as the Lady Eagles held a 7-2 advantage at the break.
The Rams went on a 4-0 run in the middle of the second half to cut Lock Haven’s lead to six (12-6), but the determined Lady Eagles regained composure and cruised to the 16-6 victory.
Lock Haven and West Chester have a strong history as today’s matchup marked the fifth consecutive year the two teams battled for the PSAC title.
The win all but assures the Lady Eagles a trip to the NCAA DII National Tournament on May 22 and 23. They await the NCAA Lacrosse Selection Show this Sunday, May 9 to determine their seed.
Visit HavenSports.com for more information as it becomes available.
Game Notes:
Today marked the fifth straight year where PSAC powers LHU and WCU met in the conference title game.
Lock Haven has won back-to-back PSAC championships.
LHU now has five conference titles for its name (2010, 2009, 1981, 1980 and 1979).
Last year the Lady Eagles finished as National Runners-up after falling to Adelphi in the 2009 NCAA DII Championship game in Salem, Va.
West Chester won five straight PSAC titles from 2004 to 2008.
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Friday, April 30 - Semifinals (at West Chester)
West Chester 19, Gannon 18
Nicole Haines scored the game-winning goal with 1:41 remaining in the game to break an 18-18 tie and lift No. 1 seeded West Chester to a 19-18 win over upset-minded Gannon in the first semifinal of the PSAC lacrosse tournament on Friday. The win advances the Golden Rams to the PSAC championship game for the ninth straight season.
Claire Grimwood led the way for the Rams with six goals and two assists while Haines and Nicole Pyle each had four goals. Mary Eshenour and Taryn Millerd each hadfive goals for Gannon, while Jess Fugate had three goals and Kayla Nelson added two goals and three assists.
The Golden Rams jumped out to a 6-0 lead before Gannon came back to tie it 10-10 just before halftime. West Chester held an 11-10 lead at the break but Gannon would jump out to a 17-14 lead with just 7:05 remaining. But from that point, the Golden Rams closed the game on a 5-1 run, tying the game on Grimwood's goal with 2:21 left and then getting the game-winner from Haines.
Lock Haven 20, Bloomsburg 5
Kayleigh Johnson recorded nine points on four goals and five assists while Allison Berger had four goals and three assists and Leigh Titus and Elyse Fisher had four goals apiece and Lock Haven trailed just once, at 1-0, in routing Bloomsburg 20-5 in the second semifinal on Friday. The win advances Lock Haven to the PSAC championship game for the fifth straight year.
Bloomsburg's Samantha Mazzie scored the first goal of the game less than a minute into the contest at the 29:25 mark. From there, Lock Haven reeled off eight unanswered goals to take an 8-1 lead and after two Bloom goals by Samantha King, the Lady Eagles scored four more straight goals to end the half with a 12-3 lead.
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Bloomsburg 19, East Stroudsburg 15
Sam Mazzie tied a Bloomsburg school record with 10 points on six goals and four assists and the Huskies broke 15-15 tie with just over 12 minutes left and scored the last five goals of the game while also shutting out East Stroudsburg for the final 12:43 of the contest as No. 2 seed Bloomsburg topped No. 3 seed East Stroudsburg 19-15.
It was a close game throughout as neither team led by more than three goals until Bloomsburg scored the final goal of the game with 13 seconds remaining to go up by the final score, 19-15. East Stroudsburg led by as many as three goals twice, the last coming with 1:16 left in the first half by a 10-7 margin. But Bloomsburg scored two goals in the last minute to come within one at halftime and then scored three straight to begin the second half and would never trail again. The Warriors would tie it twice more before Bloomsburg reeled off five straight goals to end the game.
Michelle Mangiaruga scored four goals to lead East Stroudsburg while Ali Green had three goals and three assists. Tia Mazzie added four goals and an assist for Bloomsburg.
Gannon 15, Mercyhurst 9
Taryn Millerd, who earlier in the day was named the final PSAC West Player of the Week of the year, scored seven goals and dished out one assists as No. 3 seed Gannon, who had lost twice to Mercyhurst during the regular season, stunned the No. 2-seeded Lakers 15-9 in the quarterfinals of the PSAC tournament.
Gannon led just 4-3 at the 12:01 mark of the second half after Mercyhurst's Alisha Catalino scored. But Gannon then scored four straight goals, two by Millerd and two by Mary Eshenour to go up 8-3 with under a minute to play. After Catalino scored her second goal of the game to make it 8-4 at halftime, Gannon scored four more straight goals, including the last three by Millerd, to go up 12-4 with just under 20 minutes to play. From that point, Gannon held on despite being outscored 6-3 for the remainder of the game.
Eshenour added four goals for the Golden Knights, who advance to the PSAC semifinals in their first ever appearance at the PSAC Tournament. Ally Keirn scored three goals and had an assist to lead Mercyhurst while Catalino added three goals and Kimberly Masterton added three assists.
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Lock Haven, Pa. - Lock Haven and West Chester have earned the top seeds for the PSAC lacrosse tournament, which begins next Tuesday, April 27 with two quarterfinal matches on campus sites. The two winners will then join Lock Haven and West Chester on the campus of West Chester next Friday and Saturday for the semifinals and championship.
Defending PSAC champion and last year's national runner-up Lock Haven earned the West No. 1 seed despite its one-goal loss to Mercyhurst today, which was its first loss of the season. The Lady Eagles and Lakers finished tied for first in the West but Lock Haven won the tiebreaker by virtue of a greater goal differential. Mercyhurst earns the No. 2 seed while Gannon is the No. 3 seed. Undefeated West Chester earned the top seed out of the Eastern Division while Bloomsburg is No. 2 and East Stroudsburg is No. 3. The Warriors defeated Shippensburg today in what amounted to a play-in game, as the winner of the match would earn the No. 3 seed.
The PSAC lacrosse tournament expands to six teams this year from its previous format of four. Instead of just the top two seeds from each division qualifying as in the past, the top three from each division qualify this year. The top seeds receive byes into the quarterfinals while the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds in each division will meet on the campus of the No. 2 seed in the quarterfinals.
PSAC lacrosse tournament matchups/schedule
Tuesday, April 27 - Quarterfinals
(W3) Gannon at (W2) Mercyhurst, 4:00 p.m.
(E3) East Stroudsburg at (E2) Bloomsburg, 4:00 p.m.
Friday, April 30 - Semifinals (at West Chester)
Gannon/Mercyhurst vs. (E1) West Chester, 1:00 p.m.
East Stroudsburg/Bloomsburg vs. (W1) Lock Haven, 4:00 p.m.
Saturday, May 1 - Championship - Noon
Gannon/Mercyhurst/West Chester vs. East Stroudsburg/Bloomsburg/Lock Haven