Free Live Video of NEC Championship Game I Live Stats of NEC Championship Game
2014 Wagner Statistics I 2014 Wagner NEC Guide I Photo Gallery from Wagner-RMU Semifinal (By Dave Hahn-CSI Photo)2014 All-NEC Teams I 2014 Media Guide I Highlights/Post-Game Interviews from Wagner-RMU Semifinal (necfrontrow.com)2014 NEC CHAMPIONSHIP HEADQUARTERS
Smithfield, RI – The Wagner women's lacrosse team, the No. 2 seed in the 2014 Northeast Conference (NEC) Championships, will meet No. 1 seed
Bryant in search of the program's first ever league title with opening draw set for today at 1:00 pm.
The winner of the Wagner-Bryant game will earn the NEC's automatic berth in the
2014 NCAA Division I Women's Lacrosse Tournament.
The Seahawks have won a program-best seven straight games and, with an 11-6 overall record, look to set the school record for single-season wins, a record currently held by 2002 squad that finished with an 11-6 mark.
Wagner, under the direction of first-year head coach
Liz Frisoli, went 6-1 in NEC play this season, tying the school record for most single-season conference wins and setting a mark for best league winning percentage (.857). In Bryant, the Seahawks will be facing a 14-3 club that went a perfect 7-0 in NEC play this season.
The format for the four-team NEC Championships is for the highest four seeds to meet on the campus of the No. 1 seed. The reason the championship game will take place in Rhode Island vs. Staten Island is the result of the April 4 meeting between these teams,
an epic battle that the Bulldogs pulled put by a 7-6 count in double overtime, in what was the league opener for both teams.
How much of a collision course are these two teams on? – consider that neither squad has tasted defeat since their initial meeting nearly a month ago, with both teams having won seven consecutive games since. Beginning with the win over Wagner, Bryant enters the championship game riding an eight-game winning streak, which, when added to the Seahawks' seven-game winning streak, makes this a matchup of teams who have won a combined 15 consecutive games.
The matchup with Bryant the first time around was an important one for Wagner. On a cold, rainy afternoon at Hameline Field, the Seahawks stood shoulder-to-shoulder with a Bulldog team that was picked No. 1 in the NEC Preseason Poll, surging to an early 4-1 lead before Bryant rallied by scoring five of the next seven goals to send the game into overtime.
This collision course also features the conference's two top individual performers as Wagner is led by NEC Defensive Player of the Year
Shea Gegan (Manasquan, NJ/Manasquan), while Bryant is paced by NEC Offensive Player of the Year and senior midfielder Lisa Vendel.
The Bulldogs also tout a pair of other First-Team All-NEC performers in attackers Haley Bloom and Lauren Descalzo, in addition to Second-Team All-NEC goalie Brianna Watt as well as NEC Coach of the Year Jill DePetris-Batcheller.
The NEC is guaranteed a first-time champion on Sunday. The top-seeded Bulldogs held off stubbon CCSU, 13-7, in the Friday's first semifinal behind a combined 11 goals fromits all-star trio of Vendel, Descalzo and Bloom. Bryant returns to the championship match after finishing as the 2013 runner-up, dropping a 9-7 decision to Monmouth.
In Friday's second semifinal, Wagner scored early and often against Robert Morris and never looked back, advancing to it first-ever NEC final with
an emphatic 17-7 win over No. 3 seed Robert Morris.This marked the first NEC Tourney win ever for Wagner, which played its first season of women's lacrosse in 1997 before becoming a charter member of the NEC Women's Lacrosse league in 1998.
Gegan entered the NEC Tournament as the Division I leader in caused turnovers (CT) per game for four straight weeks (3.81 per game through games of 4/28). Less than midway through her career, she is already the school record-holder in this category with 104 CT. The multi-skilled 5-10 sophomore midfielder is the focal point of a Wagner defense that limited conference opponents to just under eight points per game, the second-best mark in the league.
The Seahawks also hold the nation's best 13.94 CT per contest. Having closed the regular season with three consecutive NEC Defensive Player of the Week honors, Gegan ranked first in the league in ground balls (58), third in assists per game (1.12) and eighth in points per game (2.88).
In addition to becoming Wagner's first-ever postseason NEC individual award winner, when
she received her Defensive Player of the Year honor at Thursday night's banquet, Gegan was also named to the All-NEC First-Team, where she was joined by standout senior defender and tri-captain
Caitlin Daly (Ridgewood, NJ/Ridgewood).
The Green & White also boast a pair of All-NEC Second-Team members in sophomore attackers
Stephanie Peterson (Vernon, NJ/Vernon Township) and
Kimmy Tumolo (Mullica Hill, NJ/Clearview). In the semifinal win over RMU, this tandem combined for 11 points with Peterson scoring six points on five goals and one assist, while Tumolo accounted for five points on the strength of four goals and an assist.
Wagner had a fifth individual earn All-NEC honors as freshman midfielder
Olivia Streilein (Mt. Laurel, NJ/Lenape) earned a spot on the All-Rookie Team.
In the first meeting between these teams, Peterson and Tumolo supplied two goals each, sophomore goalie
Katie Ferraro (Ownings Mill, MD/) turned away 13 shots and Gegan recorded a career-high eight CT, a figure she tied in
a 9-6 win at Robert Morris on April 25. But it was Vendel's third goal of the game, which came in the second overtime, that lifted Bryant to the 7-6 comeback win.
Wagner held the statistical edge in several categories as the Seahawks outshot the Bulldogs 30-26, and led in groundballs by a 24-17 margin, while Bryant won 10-of-17 draw controls.
With the victory, Bryant improved to 7-3 on the season (1-0 NEC) as Wagner fell to 4-6 overall (0-1 NEC). Fast forward seven games, the teams boast 14-3 and 11-6 records, respectively. Something's got to give.
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