Williamsburg, KY – With 35.5 seconds remaining in overtime senior Marisa Helsten dodged towards the cage and put a well-placed shot into the upper corner as the second-seed and fifth-ranked Cumberlands women's lacrosse team defeated top-seed Reinhardt 11-10 to capture the 2025 AAC Tournament championship, Saturday afternoon at the UC Lacrosse Complex.  It marks Cumberlands second AAC Tournament title and their first since 2018 as they  earned the automatic berth into the NAIA National Tournament.

Helsten led the way for UC with four goals and an assist and was named the AAC Tournament MVP, while Aleyah Belton and Morgan Tate each added a pair of goals.  Emma Rittman tallied seven draw controls, four caused turnovers, and five ground balls, while Florence Andrieu scooped four ground balls.  Mia Bosah made six saves and tallied four ground balls in the win.

The Patriots jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first quarter to set the tone for the early part of the match-up.  Cumberlands struck first in the opening minute of the game as Rittman forced a turnover and, on that possession, Helsten dodged for a man-up goal.   UC extended their lead with a transition goal as Ashlee Baker sent a pass, which deflected off Helsten's stick into the goal.  Two minutes later, Morgan Tate extended Cumberlands lead with a goal to make it 3-0.  Bosah made a pair of saves, while the Patriots defense kept the Eagles offense off-balanced.  The Patriots added late goals from Belton and Anna Lobbezoo to make it 5-0 after the opening quarter.

Just over a minute into the second quarter, Bosah made her third save of the game to keep Reinhardt off the board.  The two teams traded possession until Reinhardt went on a 4-1 run, that spanned almost six minutes to cut the lead to 6-4 with 3:04 remaining.  A minute later, Koral Hadac scooped a ground ball, raced up field, and connected with Andrieu for a transition goal to extend the lead back to 7-4.  Rittman won the next draw controls and tacked on a goal 14 seconds later as UC took an 8-5 lead into the break.

Both goalies made saves in the opening minutes of the third quarter while the defenses continued to pick up their intensity.  The score remained until the 8:44 mark when Helsten connected with her third goal of the game making it 9-5 in favor of UC.  Baker and Belton each tallied a caused turnover, while UC took advantage of an Eagle penalty as Andrieu connected with Tate for a man-up goal. The Eagles added a late goal as Cumberlands took a 10-6 lead into the fourth quarter.

Reinhardt mounted a comeback in the fourth quarter with back-to-back goals cutting the lead to 10-8 with 12:29 remaining.  The Patriots defense continued to pressure the Eagles as Rittman notched a pair of caused turnovers.  UC looked to extend their lead, however, Madison Hasty made a save while a Baker shot deflected off the post kept the score 10-8 midway through the period.  The score remained that way until the 3:07 mark when Brinley Christiansen added a goal pulling Reinhardt within one.  Rittman tallied a late caused turnover, however, an unforced turnover by the Patriots gave Reinhardt the possession as Emma Perritte connected with Lawna Henry for the equalizer with 14.9 seconds remaining sending the game to overtime.

The Eagles won the opening draw control of overtime, however, Cumberlands defense made a huge stand to get the possession with 1:20 remaining.  After a successful clear, Helsten dodged towards the crease and netting the game-winning goal with 35.5 second left to clinch UC's first conference tournament title since 2018.

In addition to Helsten, who was the tournament MVP, Mia Bosah, Koral Hadac, and Emma Rittman were named to the AAC All Tournament team. 

The Patriots will now await the release of the NAIA tournament bracket, which will be released on Tuesday, April 22, at 11 a.m.  The announcement can be found on www.naianetwork.com

For the latest and most up-to-date information on University of the Cumberlands Athletics please visit www.cumberlandspatriots.com. Follow us on X - @UC_Patriots and @UCPatsGameday, Instagram- @UCPatriots, TikTok- @ucpatriots, YouTube- Cumberlands Patriots, and Facebook by searching University of the Cumberlands Athletics.