Pictured Above: Junior Defender
Maddie Courtney
LIVE STATS / LIVE VIDEO
Staten Island, NY – In a matchup of teams that sport identical 10-4 overall records and 5-0 Northeast Conference (NEC) marks, the Wagner women's lacrosse team will host defending league champion Bryant on Friday, April 27 at 3:00 p.m. with the regular season title on the line.
The winner of Friday's contest will earn home field advantage at next week's 2018 NEC Tournament, a four-team event with the semifinals to take place on Thursday, May 3, followed by the championship game on May 5.
The Seahawks and the Bulldogs are certainly no strangers to one another, having met in each of the last four NEC Championship games, all of which have taken place on the Bryant campus in Smithfield, RI. The Bulldogs are 3-1 in these four championship contests, with Wagner's victory coming in head coach
Katie Rowan's first season at the helm, back in 2016.
This 11-7 victory for the Seahawks marked the first NEC women's lacrosse title in program history.
Friday's showdown has been in the makings for some time as each team riding six-game winning streaks. Last weekend, the Seahawks earned road wins over LIU Brooklyn and Sacred Heart while the Bulldogs posting home wins over Robert Morris and Saint Francis U.
Wagner boasts this week's NEC Player of the Week and Rookie of the Week in junior attack
Marjorie Dehm and freshman midfielder
Ally Alliegro.
Dehm exploded for 10 goals and one assist in Wagner's two wins last weekend. On Friday at LIU Brooklyn, Dehm broke loose for a career-high six goals, all of which came in the opening half, as the Seahawks posted a 23-13 victory. Two days later, the Baldwinsville, NY native picked up where she left off, tossing in four goals, three of which came in the second half, helping Wagner overcome an 8-5 deficit. In the two games, Dehm was on the mark in shooting accuracy as she converted on 10 of her 14 shots, good for a sizzling 71.4 shooting percentage.
In winning her fourth NEC Rookie of the Week honor this season, Alliegro was a model of production and consistency. In the win at LIU Brooklyn, Alliegro amassed a game-high eight points by pouring in four goals and assisting on four others, in addition to collecting four draw controls and one groundball. On Sunday at Sacred Heart, the Baypoint, NY native added another four goals, to go with one assist, in helping the Seahawks overcome that three-goal second-half deficit.
Against the Pioneers, Alliegro also collected a whopping nine draw controls, which matches the Seahawk season-high recorded by freshman midfielder
Madeline Seims at LIU. In the two games, combined, Alliegro wound up with 13 points (8g, 5a) and 13 draw controls. The Seahawks feature five players who have scored 30 or more points on the season, led by junior attack
Anna Belle Reilly (19g-25a-44 pts), followed by senior midfielder
Lauren Ednie (38g-5a-43 points), followed by Alligero (25g-15-40 pts).
Rounding out the top five Wagner scorers on the season are senior attack
Heidi Colford (27g-9-36 pts) and Dehm (30g-4a-34 pts).
Ednie is the team leader in groundballs with 39, Alliegro tops the team with 45 draw controls while junior defender Maggie Courtney paces the Green & White in caused turnovers with 21.
In goal, senior
Lucy Darlington, who has started all 14 games between the pipes, boasts a .497 save percentage, which ranks No. 16 nationally, as well as a goals against average of 9.70. Classmate
Kelsey Fee has seen action in 11 games off the bench, and has posted a save percentage of .420 and a goals against average of 10.16.
All-Time Series (Bryant Leads, 9-4)
5/7/17 Smithfield, R.I. (NEC Championship) L, 16-7
4/30/17 Smithfield, R.I. L, 16-6
5/8/16 Smithfield, R.I. (NEC Championship) W, 11-7
4/10/16 Staten Island, N.Y. L, 7-4
5/3/15 Smithfield, R.I. (NEC Championship) L, 15-10
4/24/15 Smithfield, R.I. L, 8-4
5/4/14 Smithfield, R.I. (NEC Championship) L, 14-6
4/4/14 Staten Island, N.Y. L, 7-6 (2 OT)
4/14/13 Staten Island, N.Y. L, 12-8
3/30/12 Smithfield, RI W, 14-13
4/20/11 Staten Island, NY L, 14-11
4/3/10 Smithfield, RI W, 15-14 (2-OT)
3/6/9 Staten Island, NY W, 11-8
Notes
Wagner's 23-goal outburst at LIU Brooklyn (4/20) was the second-highest scoring game in program history. On April 18, 1998, the Green & White earned a 24-4 win over Marist.
With one more win, the Seahawks will tie the all-time single season mark of 11, which has been accomplished twice.
2002:
11-6
2016: 11-7
Wagner in the NCAA Rankings
Team
No. 5 Ground Balls Per Game (23.07)
No. 15 Caused Turnovers/Game (10.86)
Individual
No. 4:
Heidi Colford - Shooting Percentage (.614)
No. 16:
Lucy Darlington - Save Percentage (.497)
Ednie Hits the Century Mark
With her four goals at Sacred Heart on Sunday, senior midfielder
Lauren Ednie became the ninth player in Seahawk history to hit the 100 career-goal mark. Entering the game with 97, the Verona, NJ native is now at 101, as she passed Kelly Blundin (100 goals from 2006-09) for eighth on the all-time career list. Next on the list is Krissie Fischer (1998-01) in seventh place with 108 goals.
