Williamsburg, KY – The seventh-ranked University of the Cumberlands women's lacrosse team used a strong start and to jump out early and netted the final four goals of the game to defeat Ave Maria 19-12 Sunday afternoon at the UC Lacrosse/Soccer Complex. With the win UC clinches a share of the inaugural Mid-South Conference regular season title, giving the Patriots their second straight conference title.

It was a defensive battle as both teams struggled to get into an offensive rhythm early. Cumberlands (13-3; 3-1) got on the board first as Katie Brewer found Jaclyn Berry for a goal to give UC a 1-0 lead. Under a minute later, Kimberly Persaud found Emily Heim cutting towards the cage for a goal to extend UC's lead to 2-0 with 24:58 remaining.  The two teams traded goals, before Emily Heim scooped the draw control, raced up field and found Berry for a goal to extend the lead to 4-1.   After Ave Maria cut the lead to 4-2, Heim made her presence felt as she scored a goal, while dishing out a pair of assists to Bella Ricchiazzi and Katie Brewer to give the Patriots a 7-2 edge with 17:26 remaining.

Ave Maria (5-8; 1-4) Katelyn Sherman recorded an unassisted goal, a minute later to cut the lead to 7-3.  Cumberlands netted five of the next six goals to push their lead to 12-4 with 5:57 remaining.  Playing man-down, Berry split through four defenders and put a well-placed shot into the cage.  Amanda Phillips dished out two assists during this run, while Kelsey Fearing tallied her lone goal of the game.  The Gyrenes added another goal off a free position attempt by Carabelli to cut UC's lead to 12-5 at half.   

 Ave Maria came out strong in the second half netted three straight goals, in a four-minute span, to cut the lead to 12-8.  Ricchiazzi connected with Stephanie Meyer for a goal before finding Brewer in front of the cage for a goal to extend the lead to 14-8 with 21:39 remaining.  The Gyrenes notched four of the next five goals to cut the lead to 15-12 with 9:08 remaining. The Patriots responded led by Phillips, who converted a free position shot to push the lead back to four.  A minute later, Phillips forced a Gyrenes turnovers, Kelly Webb scooped the ground ball and on the ensuing transition Katie Brewer put a bounce shot past the goalie to give Cumberlands a 17-12 edge with 5:50 remaining. Ricchiazzi added a pair of insurance goals for the 19-12 final.

 Ricchiazzi led the way for UC with five goals, two assists, and five ground balls, while Heim notched three goals, four assists, eight draw controls, and four ground balls.  Berry, Phillips, and Brewer chipped in four points apiece. 

Defensively Briana Kucsis forced three turnovers and scooped four ground balls, while Trinity Brown added two caused turnovers and three ground balls.  Emily Cabrera picked up the win with three saves, while Emily Crump made five saves in 26 minutes of action.

The Patriots will earn the top-seed in the Mid-South Conference tournament by virtue of the tiebreakers. UC will face the winner of the Georgetown-Ave Maria game in the semifinals on Friday, April 26. Live video of the MSC Tournament will be available here, while live stats are available here.

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