DURHAM, N.H. - The University of New Hampshire defeated Boston University, 11-9, to capture the America East Women’s Lacrosse Championship on Saturday afternoon at Memorial Field. The Wildcats receive the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Women's Lacrosse Championship.
Led by Jessica Burnap, America East Player of the Year, and Kristin Blanchette, who each scored three goals, UNH won its first league title, and subsequent sixth NCAA Championship berth, in the program’s history. The pairings for the 16-team national championship will be announced at 6:30 p.m. ET Sunday on CSTV (DirectTV Channel 610).
New Hampshire’s Katie Leland tallied a goal and an assist on the afternoon and that, coupled with her championship-record tying performance of six goals in the semifinals, was good enough to earn her the tournament’s Most Outstanding Performer award. Leland was joined on the All-Championship team by teammates Kelly Blaney, Laura Dosdall and Stacey Plati, as well as Boston University’s Lindsay Lewis, Danica Strutt and Kelly Trahon, University at Albany’s Caitlin Navor and Kim Reny, and University of Maryland, Baltimore County’s Stephanie Crouch and Kelly Fioriani.
The Wildcats came out of the gates strong to start off the game as they took a quick 3-0 lead at the 22:15 mark. Boston University responded with four of the contest’s next five goals to tie the game at 4-4 with 12:51 remaining in the first frame. Both teams swapped goals before New Hampshire’s Blaney sent a shot past Boston U. goalie Anne Sheridan with just 25 ticks on the first-half clock to give the Wildcats their 6-5 halftime advantage.
The second half got underway with two Terrier goals, which gave Boston U. its first lead of the afternoon, 7-6. UNH answered with two consecutive goals of its own to take an 8-7 lead, which they would never turn back over to the Terriers. Boston University, however did manage to tie the game up at 8-8 (24:08) and later at 9-9 (16:37), but the Wildcats’ scored two goals to give the game its final 11-9 margin.
Boston U. and New Hampshire square off in the America East Women’s Lacrosse Championship game on Saturday. The two have met in the previous two league title contests with the Terriers coming out on top in both games.
| Scoring |
|---|
|
1 |
2 |
Final |
|---|
| Boston U. |
5 |
4 |
9 |
| New Hampshire |
6 |
5 |
11 |
| Individual Scoring |
|---|
| Boston U. (Goals-Assists) |
|---|
Kelly Trahon (4-0), Noelle Hopper (1-0), Mary Beth Miller (0-3), Alyssa Trudel (2-0), Lindsay Lewis (1-1), Kaitlyn Cuneo (1-0)
| New Hampshire (Goals-Assists) |
|---|
|
Katie Leland (1-1), Jess Burnap (3-0), Laura Dosdall (1-0), Kristin Blanchette (3-0), Kelly Blaney (2-1), Sarah Cahill (1-0) | |
| Goalkeepers |
|---|
| Boston U. |
|---|
| Anne Sheridan (60:00), 6 saves |
| New Hampshire |
|---|
| Stacey Plati (60:00), 14 saves |
Scoring Summary
First Half
UNH—Katie Leland (unassisted) 29:18
UNH—Jess Burnap (unassisted) 26:19
UNH—Jess Burnap, (unassisted) 22:15
BU—Kelly Trahon (unassisted) 19:31
BU—Noelle Hopper (Miller) 15:11
UNH—Laura Dosdall (unassisted) 14:46
BU—Alyssa Trudel (Miller) 13:32
BU—Kelly Trahon (Miller) 12:51
UNH—Kristin Blanchette (unassisted) 10:21
BU—Kelly Trahon (unassisted) 2:52
UNH—Kelly Blaney (Leland) 0:25
Second Half
BU—Lindsay Lewis (unassisted) 28:51
BU—Kaitlyn Cuneo (unassisted) 28:03
UNH—Kristin Blanchette (unassisted) 27:13
UNH—Kelly Blaney (unassisted) 25:11
BU—Alyssa Trudel (Lewis) 24:08
UNH—Sarah Cahill (unassisted) 18:09
BU—Kelly Trahon (unassisted) 16:37
UNH—Kristin Blanchette (unassisted) 12:14
UNH—Jess Burnap (unassisted) 9:35