We will have a first-time champion on Sunday when top-seeded Bryant and second-seeded Wagner square off for the NEC Women's Lacrosse title at 1:00 pm live on NEC Front Row.  The top-seeded Bulldogs held off a stubbon CCSU team, 13-7, in the day's first semfinal behind a combined 11 goals from Bryant's all-star trio of Lisa Vendel, Lauren Descalzo and Haley Bloom.  Bryant returns to the championship match after finishing as the 2013 runner-up. In the second semi, Wagner scored early and often against Robert Morris and never looked back, advancing to their first-ever NEC final with a 17-7 win.  The Seahawks were led by Stephanie Peterson and Kimmy Tumolo, who finished with five and four goals, respectively.

Click Here For NEC Championship Headquarters

NEC Semifinal #1
#1 Bryant 13, #4 Central Connecticut 7

Click Here For Boxscore
Click Here For Highlights

Smithfield, RI -- Bryant had three players honored as first team All-NEC performers on Thursday, and less than 24 hours later, all three delivered all-star worthy performances as the top-seeded Bulldogs advanced to the title game for a second straight year with a 13-7 win over  #4 Central Connecticut in Smithfield, RI.
 
The Bryant (14-3) trio of Lisa Vendel (Sandy Hook, CT/Newtown), Lauren Descalzo (Hauppauge, NY/Hauppauge) and Haley Bloom (Hauppauge, NY/St. Anthony’s) combined to score 11 of Bryant’s 13 goals on the afternoon as the Bulldogs pulled away down the stretch.   Descalzo and Bloom finished with four goals apiece, while Vendel, the NEC Player of the Year, had three of her own.  Bloom added a pair of assists for a game-high six points, and Vendel  recorded four ground balls, three draw controls and five caused turnovers.

The game was a close one in the first half and well into the second stanza.

Vendel opened the scoring just 1:40 into the contest, and Bloom tallied less than two minutes later to give the Bulldogs a quick 2-0 lead.
 
CCSU (7-10) responded with three straight tallies in a 2:49 span  as Meaghan McCurry (Branford, CT/Branford) scored twice followed by an Amanda Toke (High Bridge, NJ/Vorhees) goal to make it 3-2 Blue Devils with 18:59 left in the half.

Bryant regained the lead, 4-3, as Vendel completed a hat trick with the next two goals, the second coming on a free position shot at the 9:37 mark.

It was a wild ending to the first stanza as Descalzo sandwiched a pair of goals around a second tally by Toke, all in the last 33 seconds to make it 6-4 with the hosts in the lead.  Descalzo sent the Bulldogs into halftime with momentum on a transition goal off a feed from Bloom with just 0.8 seconds left on the clock.

Toke brought the Blue Devils to within 6-5 with a goal 1:11 into the second half, but that would be as close as CCSU would get as Bryant scored four of the next five goals to take control.

Descalzo scored again, this time from Vendel, then Bloom netted two of her own, the first coming on a free position shot.

CCSU’s Erin Dougherty (Port Jefferson Station, NY/Comsewogue) managed to stem the tide off a pass from McCurry, making it 9-6 Bryant with 15:55 on the clock.
 
Bloom responded with her fourth goal of the game, and after McMurry netted her third or CCSU, it was Descalzo who scored the dagger – her fourth marker – with 9:12 on the clock.
 
The Bulldogs closed out the scoring on tallies from Kim Sniffen (Redding, CT/Joel Barlow) and Olvia McCarthy (Sea Girt, NJ/Manasquan).

Brianna Watt (Babylon, NY/Babylon) finished with three saves for Bryant, while NEC Goalkeeper of the Year Morgan Tuller (Randolph Center, VT/Chelsea) of CCSU had 10 on the day, and helped keep the Blue Devils in the game with a number of point blank stops in the first half.

McMurray and Toke both finished with a hat trick for CCSU and McCurry added a pair of assists for a five-point afternoon.

The Bulldogs will take on the winner of #2 Wagner and #3 Robert Morris at 1:00 pm on Sunday.  Bryant is shooting for its first-ever NEC title.

NEC Semifinal #2
#2 Wagner 17, #3 Robert Morris 7

Click Here For Box
Click Here For Highlights

Smithfield, RI -- Sparked by a five goal, six-point performance by sophomore attacker Stephanie Peterson (Vernon, NJ/Vernon Township), #2 seed Wagner advanced to its first-ever NEC women’s lacrosse title game, downing #3 seed Robert Morris, 17-7, in the semifinals held at Bryant University in Smithfield, CT.

Kimmy Tumolo (Mullica Hill, NJ/Clearview) added four goals and an assist for the Seahawks, who were making their first NEC playoff appearance since 2005 following a 6-1 regular season in NEC play.

Wagner put on an impressive offensive display in the first half, scoring 10 times against the NEC’s third-ranked defense to take control of the game.

Peterson opened the scoring 2:07 into the contest, and after RMU’s Emily Jamison (Pittsburgh, PA/North Hills) knotted things up 1:02 later on a free position shot, it took just 51 seconds for the Seahawks to regain the lead on a Jessica Mills (Vernon, NJ/Vernon Township) goal.

RMU’s Rhyan Bofinger (Downingtown, PA/Downingtown West) continued the scoring spree just 1:21 later to make it 2-2.

Tumolo  then answered for Wagner with two straight tallies to make it 4-2 Wagner with just under 20 minutes left on the clock.

It took less than a minute for the Colonials’ Kristin Yoviene (Easton, MD/Saint Peter’s and Paul) to bring RMU to within 4-3, but that was as close as her team would get the rest of the way out.

The Seahawks quickly netted two more by Gretchen Fay (Spring Lake Heights, NJ/Manasquan) and Peterson to make it 6-3 after just 13 minutes of action.

RMU’s Jessica Karwacki (Sparks, MD/Hereford) made it 6-4 with under 16 minutes on the clock, and that score held up for the next 12+ minutes as both team’s defenses dug in.

In the game’s decisive stretch, however, Wagner took over, scoring four goals in the final 3:34 of the first half to take a 10-4 lead into intermission.  Olivia Streilein (Mt. Laurel, NJ/Lenape) started the rally, followed by two more goals by Peterson and another by Tumolo off a gorgeous give-and-go feed from Peterson.

The Seahawks were never seriously challenged in the second half, managing to keep the Colonials at bay with relentless offensive pressure and an opportunistic defense.
 
Tumolo opened the second half scoring on a free position goal at the 26:10 mark -her fourth of the contest - to extend the lead to 11-4.

Robert Morris broke a scoreless spell that reached 20:50 of game time when Corey Karwacki (Sparks, MD/Hereford) scored off a feed from her sister Jessica Karwacki (Sparks, MD/Hereford) five minutes into the period.

The two teams proceeded to trade goals with Mills scoring for Wagner and Jessica Karwacki finding the back of the net again for RMU to make the score 12-6 in favor of the Seahawks.
 
With the Colonials looking to mount a comeback, Emma Baukhages (Gambrills, MD/Indian Creek) scored at the 20-minute mark for RMU, but Streilein answered back with one of her own less than two minutes later to keep the six-goal advantage for the Seahawks.

Fay’s second of the game made it 14-7 Wagner with 12:27 on the clock and Peterson scored her fifth of the game with just under 10 minutes remaining.

NEC Defensive Player of the Year Shea Gegan (Manasquan, NJ/Manasquan) scored on a free-position shot at the 8:53 mark to push the edge to 16-7 and Tori McGrath (Albany, NY/Bethlehem Central) closed out the scoring on a free position shot with 31 seconds on the clock.

Wagner goalkeeper Katie Ferraro (Owings Mills, MD/McDonogh) made nine saves for the Seahawks, while her RMU counterpart Kaitlin Pentz (Sykesville, MD/Century) turned back 10 shots.
 
The Seahawks will not face top-seed Bryant in the championship final.  Wagner dropped a 7-6 double overtime decision to Bryant in both team’s NEC opener on April 4.