Women's Lacrosse 5/03/19

Seahawks At Mount St. Mary's In NEC Championship Game On Saturday At Noon

#2 Wagner

#1 Mount St. Mary's

12:00 PM

Game Notes / NEC Tournament Central

Emmitsburg, MD - The No. 2-seeded Wagner women's lacrosse team, under the direction of first-year head coach Michelle Tumolo, will meet top-seeded Mount St. Mary's in the 2019 Northeast Conference (NEC) Championship on Saturday, May 4 at Waldron Family Stadium at 12 p.m. with the winner earning an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.

The defending NEC-champion Seahawks earned a spot in their sixth straight league title game by outlasting No. 3 seed Robert Morris 14-13 on Thursday. In each of the last five seasons, Wagner was the No. 2 seed and met top-seeded Bryant on the Bulldogs' home field. In these five meetings, the Seahawks were 2-3 as they took home their first-ever conference championship in 2016 before winning it again last season. This marked the fourth straight season that the Green & White have defeated RMU in the NEC semifinals.

For the Mount, Saturday's matchup marks the seventh NEC Championship game appearance and it is the Mountaineers' first since 2012. Mount St. Mary's earned a spot in Saturday's title game by cruising past No. 4 seed Bryant 18-4 in Thursday's other semifinal.

About the Seahawks
Sophomore Madeline Seims leads the NEC with 59 goals this season, averaging 3.47 scores per game. Sophomore Erin Kerstetter, who was named the NEC Midfielder of the Year, is Wagner's team leader in three major categories, with a school single-season record 108 draw controls, along with 48 ground balls and 24 assists. In Thursday's semifinal win, the speedy, 5'2" Kerstetter tallied one goal while dishing out three assists. In goal, Second-Team All-NEC selection Kelsey Fee, a redshirt senior, boasts a .484 save percentage and 8.25 goals against average while making the start in all 17 games. Wagner also features a pair of First-Team All-NEC senior defenders in Maddie Courtney and Maggie Jent, while junior attacker Stephanie Falcone was a Second-Team All-NEC choice.

Following their 14-13 victory over RMU in the @necwlax semi-finals, Player of the Game Madeline Seims, who equalled her season high with six goals, and Seahawks head coach Michelle Tumolo speak with @necfrontrow pic.twitter.com/aTDvYmRfYK
— Northeast Conference (@necwlax) May 2, 2019

The Series
Wagner trails the all-time series 16-9 while the teams are 1-1 in NEC Tournament play. Most recently, in 2015, the Seahawks ran past the Mount 15-6 in a game played on Bryant University's campus. The first conference tourney meeting between the schools took place in 2005 when the Mountaineers earned a 16-5 home victory.

Recent History Between the Teams
Wagner had won six consecutive games over Mount St. Mary's before dropping their lone NEC contest of this season, back on April 13, when the Mountaineers earn an 11-9 win in Emmitsburg, MD.

Wagner Team Superlatives
* Seahawks have now reached the NEC Championship Game for Sixth Straight Season

*The previous five NEC Championship games were all played at No.1-seed Bryant

*Wagner 2-3 record in NEC Title, claiming Championships in 2016 and 2018)

* Thursday's 14-13 win over Robert Morris marked the fourth straight season that Wagner has defeated the Colonials in the NEC semifinals.

*Semifinal win improved Wagner's record to 14-3, with those 14 wins tying the program single-season record set by the 2018 Seahawk NEC Championship team (14-6)

*The 14 wins in 2018 included NEC Tournament semifinal game, Championship game and NCAA win over Mercer
*Enters NEC Championship game riding five-game winning streak, and winners of 13 of last 14 games

*Earlier this season, the Seahawks set a program-record eight-game winning streak (previous seven, several times)

*Eight-game winning streak began on March 1, ended on April 13, span of 39 days

*6-1 NEC record tied for the best conference mark in program history

*2019 Senior Class has been a part of the most wins in four-year period (44)

WAGNER 2019 NEC WEEKLY AWARD WINNERS
April 29: A, Madeline Seims (#NECPrimePerformer)
April 22: G, Kelsey Fee (Defensive Player of Week; #NECPrimePerformer)
April 22: MF, Erin Kerstetter (Player of Week; #NECPrimePerformer)
April 22: A, Megan Drum (#NECPrimerPerformer)
April 15: A, Madeline Seims (#NECPrimerPerformer)
April 8: MF, Erin Kerstetter (Co-Player of Week; #NECPrimePerformer)
April 1: D, Megan Drum, MF Madeline Seims (#NECPrimePerformers)
March 18 G, Kelsey Fee (Defensive Player of Week; #NECPrimePerformer)
March 11: MF, Madeline Seims (Co-Player of Week; #NECPrimerPerformer)
March 11: D, Kirsten Monte (Defensive Player of the Week, #NECPrimerPerformer)

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