Pioneers and Bobcats Face-off for NEC Championship
4/26/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Lacrosse
April 26, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format 
2008 Northeast Conference Championship
#2 Sacred Heart Pioneers (11-7, 7-1 NEC) vs. #1 Quinnipiac Bobcats (10-5, 7-1 NEC)
Game #19 - Sunday, April 26, 2008 - Hamden, Conn. - Quinnipiac Lacrosse Field
Pioneers and Bobcats Face-off for NEC Championship... The Sacred Heart Pioneers will take on instate rival Quinnipiac for the 2008 Northeast Conference Championship Sunday afternoon. Both the Pioneers and Bobcats are looking to stake claim to their first-ever conference championship and berth in the NCAA Tournament with a win. QU took the first meeting this season, wining 10-9 on Campus Field in Fairfield. This will be the Bobcats first NEC title game appearance. SHU returns to the championship game for the first time since 2006 where they fell at the hands of Monmouth. Today's winner will mark just the fourth different champion in league history as Monmouth, the Mount and UMBC are the only school to ever have won the crown. The NEC champ will take on the champion of the America East conference in a NCAA Play-In game next week.
The Sacred Heart - QU Series... Sacred Heart leads the all-time series, 9-4. The Bobcats snapped a two-game Pioneer win streak in the series thanks to a 10-9 win at SHU earlier this month. Today's meeting will be the second between the two schools in the playoffs as the Pioneers posted a 12-9 win in the 2006 semifinals. The Pioneers at one time owned a five-game winning streak in the series before Quinnipiac wins in 2005 and 2004. The Pioneers took the initial meeting in 1996.
NEC Tournament History... This is Sacred Heart's seventh trip to the Northeast Conference Tournament and their second trip to the title game. This year marked SHU's third-straight appearance as they entered this year's tournament as the #2 seed. The Pioneers avenged two-straight losses to Monmouth in the conference tournament with Friday's 12-11 win. Sacred Heart was the #3 seed in last year's tournament and fell to the #2 seed Hawks in the semifinal round, 15-13, at Mount St. Mary's. SHU was the #2 seed in the 2006 tournament and picked up their first-ever playoff win, beating Quinnipiac, 12-9 to advance to the championship game. The Pioneers fell to Monmouth, 10-5, in the title game. Prior to their run in 2006, the Pioneers were 0-4 in the tournament all as the #4 seed, losing three times to UMBC and once to Mount St. Mary's. In 2004, SHU fell to the Mount, 6-5. In 2002, SHU lost to UMBC 16-4 and in 2000 they fell to the Retrievers 14-8. The Pioneers first tournament trip came in 1999 when they lost to UMBC, 19-6.
Last Meeting with Quinnipaic... Quinnipiac goalkeeper Hannah Nelson made two of her 10 saves with under 20 seconds to play to preserve a 10-9 win over Sacred Heart on April 11th, pulling the two teams into a first place tie atop the Northeast Conference standings. The Pioneers held a 6-4 lead at the half but a 4-0 Bobcat run to start the second shifted the momentum to Quinnipiac en route to the comeback win. SHU saw their seven-game winning streak snapped in the loss. Quinnipiac jumped in front 10-9 with 4:37 left to set up Nelson's last minute heroics. SHU tested Nelson with 1:37 left but she turned away a Katie Salamone attempt and the Bobcats cleared and tried to run out the clock. An errant pass gave the Pioneers hope as they set up on offense with 44 seconds to play. Nelson made her first big save stopping Alyssa Harris at the 18 second mark. SHU got another chance with 11 seconds left as Amanda Williams was awarded a free position attempt. Nelson made the save of the day turning away her chance as Jamie Zeitler corralled the loose ball and the Bobcats ran out the remaining seconds for the win. The Pioneers got two goals apiece from Meghan McCaffrey and Carissa Hauser as Chelsea Wagner posted 10 saves in the cage.
NEC Semifinal Action... Sacred Heart got three goals apiece from Amanda Williams and Jessica Ingrilli as the Pioneers held off a late Monmouth rally to post a 12-11 win in Friday afternoon semifinal match-up. The #2 seeded Pioneers went up 12-6 with just over seven minutes to play but had to hold off a late run from the #3 seeded Hawks to advance to the title game for the second time in school history. The Pioneers scored on the game's opening draw and took a 4-1 lead midway through the first half. The Hawks cut the lead down to two but a pair of goals from Williams and Ingrilli just before the half sent the Pioneers into the locker room up 7-3. MU opened the second half with a marker but SHU put together a 3-1 run into the 10th minute for a 10-5 advantage. Carissa Hauser buried an 8meter attempt at 8:44 followed by a Salamone unassisted tally at 7:04 for a 12-6 lead. The Hawks refused to go quietly however and scored the game's final five to make it a one-goal game. Monmouth cut it down to three with 4:31 to go but couldn't get back on the board until 1:15 and threw one more in with just three ticks left to produce the final, 12-11.
NEC Stats... The Sacred Heart Pioneers are ranked fourth in the league in goals per game (11.61), third in assists per game (5.56) and fourth in points per game (17.17). SHU is first in shot percentage (.460). The Pioneers have the top-ranked defensive unit allowing just 9.06 goals per game. Amanda Williams is fourth in goals per game (2.33). Mary Montesarchio is second in the NEC in assists per game (2.10) and is fifth in points per game (3.17). Williams is tied for first with Katie Salamone with four game-winning goals. Carissa Hauser is 10th in goals per game (2.10) and seventh in points per game (3.00). Chelsea Wagner leads the league in save percentage (.530), is second in goals against average (9.23) and is fourth in saves per game (9.67). Liz Ottey is third in the NEC in 8meter goals, converting 13 (0.72) of 26 attempts. She is 10th in assists per game (0.94).
History... This is the Pioneer's 11th year of competition in the Northeast Conference. Sacred Heart has qualified for the NEC Tournament five times and posts a 97-79 Division I record. The Pioneers have posted 10 wins four times.
