Savannah, GA – In a back-and-forth contest it was the fourth-seed Cumberlands women's lacrosse netted three goals in the final five minutes to knock off top-seed Keiser 15-14 in the NAIA National Semifinals Thursday afternoon at Memorial Stadium. With the win, the Patriots advance to the NAIA championship game for the second time in program history and move to 17-3 on the season.
"This team has battled through adversity all season and their resilience is unbelievable," said Head Coach
Kelly Buikus. "I'm incredibly proud of their effort today and they battled until the final whistle to earn their spot in the championship game."
Mia Bosah led the way for UC with a career-high 20 saves in the contest, including seven in the fourth quarter. The 20 saves ties the NAIA Tournament record for saveds in a game and are the second most saves in program history.
Ashlee Baker tallied three goals and four assists in the game, while
Emma Rittman tied her season-high with six goals in the game.
Koral Hadac added three caused turnovers, which moves her into a tie for the program's season leader, to go along with five ground balls, and the game-winning goal.
Keiser struck first with a goal two minutes into the first quarter. Cumberlands responded as Baker connected with
Anna Lobbezoo and
Morgan Tate for two goals, in a 35 span, putting UC in front 2-1. After the Seahawks took a 3-2 advantage, Bosah made four of her six first quarter saves as the score remaining 3-2 heading into the second quarter.
Rittman won the opening draw control of the second period, raced up field and scored the tying goal 22 seconds in. Keiser went on a 3-1 run to take a 6-4 lead midway through the period. The Patriots started to rally with a Belton making a strong dodge for a goal at the 5:14 mark. UC took advantage of a Seahawks penalty as
Peyton Koenig connected with Rittman for a man-up goal to tie the game 6-6. Bosah added a save, while UC worked the ball around as
Marisa Helsten found Tate cutting towards the cage for a goal to give the Patriots a 7-6 edge at halftime.
Reese Kincaid notched a caused turnovers top open the third quarter and on the ensuing possession Baker connected with Rittman for a goal to make it 8-6. Keiser pulled within a goal twice, however, UC answered both times first with a goal from Baker before Rittman converted a free position goal to make it 10-8 with 8:56 remaining. Belton converted on a man-up free position goal to extend the Patriots lead to 11-8, which was their largest lead of the game. Hadac tallied a pair of caused turnovers coupled with a pair of saves from Bosah as Cumberlands took an 11-9 lead into the fourth quarter.
Keiser netted three unanswered goals in just over two minutes to open the fourth period and retake the lead 12-11. The Seahawks looked to extend their, however, Bosah tallied five saves while Belton added a caused turnover to keep it a one goal game with 10:00 remaining. The Baker to Rittman connection struck again at the 9:23 mark tying the game at 12-12. Keiser retook the lead with back-to-back goals making it 14-12 with 5:21 remaining. The Patriots battled back as Rittman scooped the ground ball off a blocked shot and put it into the cage for her sixth goal of the contest. The junior won the ensuing draw control and on that possession Baker put a well-placed shot into the cage tying the game at 14-14 with 4:04 remaining. On the next UC possession, Rittman found Hadac cutting towards the cage to net her fourth goal of the season giving the Patriots a 15-14 lead with 2:32 remaining. Keiser looked for the equalizer, however, Bosah was there for the huge save as the Patriots ran out the final seconds for the 15-14 final.
This marks the Patriots first trip to the NAIA National Championship game since 2021. UC will face second-seed Benedictine on Saturday, May 3
rd, at 1 p.m. The Ravens defeated SCAD 25-11 in the other semifinal.
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