STONY BROOK, N.Y. - Kasey Mitchell's goal as time expired lifted the Stony Brook Seawolves to their fourth-straight America East Women's Lacrosse title, 10-9, over Albany on Sunday afternoon at Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium. With the win, the Seawolves earned the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Championship for the fourth-straight season.
Stony Brook became just the second team in conference history to win four-straight tournament titles, joining Boston U. which won the tournament for six-straight years from 2005-10. The Seawolves will head to the NCAA tournament on a program-record 14-game winning streak. The 2016 NCAA Selection Show will take place on Sunday night at 9 PM on NCAA.com.
Mitchell earned All-Championship accolades, while teammate Courtney Murphy was named the Most Outstanding Player. Murphy tallied 10 goals over the two tournament games, including the game-tying goal with 1:23 to go in regulation in the championship game. Dorrien Van Dyke and Samantha DiSalvo also were named to the All-Championship Team.
The two teams traded goals throughout the first half, with Murphy opening the scoring in the first minute of play. Albany junior Dakotah Savitcheff, an All-Championship selection, responded with a pair of her own to give the Great Danes a 2-1 lead with 24:43 left. Savitcheff scored four goals and notched an assist in the game. Both first-half goals came off assists from Sarah Martin, who also earned an All-Championship team selection after finishing with a goal and two assists in the final.
The teams continued to trade blows before heading into the locker room at halftime tied at five. The game featured seven ties and eight lead changes.
Stony Brook took the first multi-goal lead of the game as Murphy and Ohlmiller socred just 21 seconds apart in the second half to stake the top-seed to a 7-5 advantage. After Albany cut the lead to one, Van Dyke's fourth goal of the game gave Stony Brook a 8-6 lead with 18:39 to play.
Albany came roaring back, scoring three-straight goals to take a 9-8 lead with 4:14 to go. First, Alie Jimerson scored off a feed from Emily Mizer to cut the Stony Brook lead to 8-7 at the 12:33 mark. Five minutes later, Savitcheff made a huge defensive play, forcing a turnover at midfield and then finding a wide open Martin who cashed in on a one-on-one opportunity with the goalie, tying the game at 8-8 with just over seven minutes to play.
The Great Danes would take their first lead since 5-4 as All-Championship Team member, Rachel Bowles, finished a free position shot with 4:14 to play.
Albany held the lead until the final two minutes, when Alyssa Guido hit a cutting Murphy for a goal to tie the game with 1:23 left.
Stony Brook forced turnover with just over 30 seconds to play to earn the final possession. After a shot went wide, a pass in front of the net to Mitchell earned her a shooting space call and a free position shot with 4.5 seconds on the clock. The freshman scored her ninth of the year with a high-to-high shot that went in just as time expired, giving the Seawolves a 10-9 victory.
New Hampshire seniors Nicole Grote and Laura McHoul and UMBC's Ashley Peacock and Paulina Christ rounded out the All-Championship Team. Stony Brook's Ashley Gomes earned the conference's Elite 18 award for having the highest GPA among the competitors in the championship game. Gomes has a 3.62 GPA in Economics & Business Management.
The 2016 NCAA Selection Show will take place on Sunday, May 8 at 9 p.m. on NCAA.com.