Savannah, GA – The second-seed UC women's lacrosse team overcame a four goal deficit to rally in the second half and defeat sixth-seed Life 11-10 in the semifinals of the NAIA National Championship Friday afternoon at Memorial Stadium. With the win the Patriots advance to the national championship game for the first time in program history while improving their record to 16-1 on the season.
Olivia McCarrell led the way for UC with 17 saves in the game to go along with five ground balls. It's the fourth straight game with at least 14 saves for the freshman. Bella Richiazzi tallied a team-high four points; two goals and two assists, while
Emily Heim netted a hattrick to go along with three ground balls.
Florence Andrieu,
Carolina Johnson and
Trinity Brown finished with two goals apiece. Brown also tallied three caused turnovers, while
Kelly Webb notched a pair of caused turnovers and a ground ball.
Life struck first, however, UC responded taking advantage of a yellow card as Ricchiazzi connected with Johnson for a man-up goal to even the score at 1-1. The Running Eagles tallied four straight goals to take a 5-1 lead midway through the first half, before the Patriots started to mount their comeback. Andrieu converted a free position goal before
Tasie Fox force a turnover, which was scooped by Brown, who took it coast-to-coast for the goal cutting the deficit to 5-3. After the two teams traded goals Ricchiazzi converted a free position goal to bring the Patriots within one with 4:31 remaining. In the closing seconds of the first half, McCarrell recorded a save, while on the ensuing transition Ricchiazzi put a well-placed shot into the cage to cut the deficit to 7-6 at the break.
The Patriots came out strong in the second half increasing their intensity as McCarrell made a save while Brown forced a turnover in the first minute of play. Offensively, Heim netted back-to-back goals to give Cumberlands their first lead of the game at 8-7 with 27:50 remaining. UC continued to apply the pressure on both ends of the field as Andrieu converted a free position, while Ricchiazzi won the ensuing draw control and connected with
Carolina Johnson for a goal extending the lead to 10-7 with 24:00 remaining. The two teams traded possession over the next nine minutes as McCarrell tallied four stops to keep UC with a three goal lead. Life scored twice to cut the lead to 10-9, before Heim converted a free-position goal at the 9:11 mark to extend UC's lead to 11-9. McCarrell added three more saves as Webb forced a turnover to keep the game at a two-goal lead. Life added a goal in the closing seconds for the 11-10 final.
The Patriots women's lacrosse team becomes the first women's team in Cumberlands to reach a NAIA National Championship game.
Cumberlands will face top-seed Keiser, who defeated #5 Lawrence Tech, in tomorrow's championship at 2 p.m.
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