Click Here For NEC Tournament Headquarters

For the first time since 2013, we won't be watching a Wagner-Bryant final with the NEC women's lacrosse title at stake. Top-seeded Mount St. Mary's delivered a statement win on its home turf on Friday with an 18-4 win over the perennial NEC powerhouse Bulldogs. The win was the 16th of the year for the Mount, which set a school record and will be looking to claim its first NEC crown since 2005 on Saturday. Defending champion and second-seeded Wagner, however, played the game of survive and advance, holding off third-seeded Robert Morris, 14-13, to reach their sixth straight title game. The NEC final will air live on both NEC Front Row and ESPN3 beginning at 12:00 pm.

#1 Mount St. Mary's 18, #4 Bryant 4
Click Here For Boxscore
Click Here For Highlights
 
Emmitsburg, MD – With NEC Offensive Player of the Year Jordan Butler (Bel Air, MD/John Carroll) leading the way with four goals and three assists, top-seeded Mount St. Mary’s jumped out to a big first half lead and never looked back, downing fourth-seeded Bryant, 18-4, in the second semifinal of the 2019 NEC Women's Lacrosse Championship in Emmitsburg, MD.

Mount St. Mary's (16-2) now advances to its first title game since 2013 with their sights set on the program's first NEC championship since the 2005 season. 

With the win, the Mount also established a school record with its 16th win of the campaign and has won 13 straight, also a program record.
  
Bryant (8-9) struck first 5:33 into the game when freshman Emily Diaz (Selden, NY/Newfield) scored her eighth goal of the season. Mount St. Mary’s answered back just 35 seconds later when Butler was able to find enough space to score her 55th goal of the year. The Mountaineers added another goal 44 seconds later as senior Emily Davis (Salisbury, MD/Parkside) took a pass inside from NEC Rookie of the Year Jordan Groover (Germantown, Tenn./Hutchinson School) and scored to put Mount up 2-1.
 
The Mountaineers then went on to add another five goals - including the last two from Butler, who completed her hat trick at the 18:34 mark - in a 100-second span to extend their lead to 7-1.
 
Mount would add two more goals and go into halftime with a 9-2 lead.

Bryant got the scoring started in the second half when Diaz netted her second of the game while in the air receiving a pass from Jess DeMeo (Mount Sinai, NY/Mount Sinai).

Once again the Mountaineers responded quickly, answering back just 11 seconds later on a goal from sophomore Beanie Colson (Westminster, MD/Manchester Valley) which would spark a 4-0 run and set the Mount on its path to the title game.

The Mount's 18 goals came seven different players on the day including four goals apiece from Butler and Alayna Pagnotta (Woobine, MD/Gleneig).

For Butler, her seven-point day bumped her NEC-leading point total to 76 and established a new Mount single-season record. She has amassed 58 goals and 18 assists on the year.
                                       
Mount St. Mary’s outshot Robert Morris, 30-20, and held an 15-9 advantage in draw controls on the afternoon.
 
Mount goalkeeper Jillian Petito (Ocean City, MD/Stephen Decatur) stopped seven shots, while senior Giana Kapoosuzian (Merrick, NY/Sanford H. Calhoun) made six saves for the Bulldogs.
  
#2 Wagner 14, #3 Robert Morris 13
Click Here For Boxscore
Click Here For Highlights

Emmitsburg, MD – For the sixth straight year, Wagner will have an opportunity to hoist the NEC women's lacrosse trophy.

The second-seeded Seahawks edged fourth-seeded Robert Morris, 14-13, making it four straight years Wagner has defeated the Colonials in the NEC semis. The defending NEC champs have now on five straight and 12 of its last 13 headed into Saturday's finals. The tournament is being hosted by top-seeded Mount St. Mary's in Emmitsburg, MD.

Wagner's All-NEC midfielder Madeline Seims (Westbury, NY/W. Tresper Clarke) led the way with six goals on seven shots for the Seahawks.
  
Wagner (14-3) opened the scoring just 36 seconds into the game when NEC Midfielder of the Year Erin Kerstetter (Shamong, NJ/Seneca) netted her 30^th goal of the season. The Seahawks would go up 3-0 just two and a half minutes later when Seims and Stephanie Falcone (Breinigsville, PA/Perkiomen School) scored just 22 seconds apart.
 
Robert Morris (12-5) went on to answer with a 5-0 run over an 8:19 span, courtesy of two goals apiece from Shannon Lynch (Pittsburgh, PA/Shaler) and All-NEC first teamer Mackenzie Gandy (Baltimore, MD/Dulaney), as well as a goal from Kerri Sayrafe (Massapequa, NY/Massapequa). RMU added three more first half tallies while Wagner added four more goals, as the Colonials went into halftime with an 8-7 lead.
 
Coming out of halftime, Wagner went on the offensive.

The Seahawks tied the game on Seims’ second goal of the game just 1:25 into the second half.
 
The two teams would then trade goals as Sayrafe scored her second of the game for RMU on a feed from Melanie Gandy (Baltimore, MD/Dulaney) to tickle the twines from point blank range at the 24:05 mark of the second half. Seims completed her hat trick a minute later, to once again tie the game at 9 apiece.
 
The two programs continued the back-and-forth affair with neither team leading by more than a goal until the Seahawks received two goals from senior Megan Drum (Shamong, NJ/Seneca) to give the Green & White a two-goal cushion. Just 54 seconds later, Wagner freshman Maria Henwood (Syracuse, NY/Charles W. Baker) scored her third goal of the season off a pass from Kerstetter.
 
Robert Morris looked to cut into the Wagner lead with a free position chance from Clio Kerr (Frederick, MD/Governor Thomas Johnson), but Wagner goalkeeper Kelsey Fee (White Plains, NY/Ithaca College) came up big for the Seahawks to maintaining the three-goal advantage. The Colonials did find the back of the net at the 8:11 mark when Lynch notched her third goal of the game, cutting the Wagner lead to 13-11.
 
After Seims made it 14-11 on her sixth of the afternoon with 6:29 left to play in regulation, the Colonials mounted a late comeback with goals from Meghan Crouse (Taneytown, MD/Winters Mill) and Mackenzie Gandy's third of the afternoon to make it a one-goal game with 1:13 to play.

Wagner's All-NEC defeder Maggie Jent (Sparta, NY/Sparta) won the ensuing faceoff, and the Seahawks were able to run out the clock.
 
Overall, Wagner held a 28-12 advantage in ground balls and a 26-20 edge in shots on goal.  

For the Seahawks, Fee made 7 saves, while Katelyn Miller (Bel Air, MD/C. Milton Wright) stopped 12 shots for the Colonials.

Mackenzie Gandy finished with four goals and two assists for RMU, while her twin sister Melanie added a goal and four assists.