Drexel and James Madison Advance to 2021 CAA Women's Lacrosse Championship Game
HARRISONBURG, Va. (May 7, 2021) – Top-seeded Drexel and second-seeded James Madison advanced to the 2021 Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Women’s Lacrosse Championship game following victories Friday evening at Sentara Park on the campus of James Madison University.
Drexel advances to the championship game for the first time in the program’s history while James Madison is making their conference-leading 19
th appearance in the CAA final.
James Madison 14, Hofstra 7 Box Score | Highlights | Photo Gallery
Second-seeded James Madison advanced to their seventh consecutive CAA Championship game defeating third-seeded Hofstra 14-7 in the second semifinal game Saturday night.
James Madison will face top-seeded Drexel on Sunday at noon after the Dragons advanced to the championship game earlier in the evening on Friday. The Dukes improve to 10-4 on the season while Hofstra drops to 6-6 after the loss.
James Madison used a stifling brand of defense behind their leader in goal Molly Dougherty. The red-shirt junior goalkeeper posted a .650 save percentage along with 13 saves and limited the Pride to just seven goals in the victory.
Isabella Peterson and Charlotte Haggerty each recorded four points on three goals and an assist to lead James Madison offensively.
For the Pride, Alyssa Parrella had a team-high five points with a season-best four assists and one goal while Katie Whelan also contributed four goals.
After Peterson recording the final goal of the first half to give her a hat trick, the Dukes came out of halftime firing on all cylinders scoring four consecutive goals. It was a 5-0 run for the Dukes that covered 16 minutes and 13 seconds of actual game time giving James Madison an 11-4 lead.
Hofstra netted back-to-back goals off a pair of Parrella assists first from Katie Whelan, her fourth of the contest, and then Grace Langella to climb within five. However, the Dukes responded with three of the next four goals to regain a seven-point lead 14-7 which would be the final score in the game.
Hofstra’s Whelan opened the scoring six minutes into the first half netting her 15
th goal of the season to give the Pride a 1-0 lead. James Madison’s Peterson responded just 39 seconds later with the equalizer to tie the game at one apiece.
The teams traded free position goals as Hofstra’s Parrella notched her lone goal of the game and Peterson netted her second consecutive goal for the Dukes.
The Dukes then rallied off three goals in a row to take a 5-2 advantage with 10:12 left in the first half. Three different Dukes scored during the run: Taylor Marchetti, Emma Greenhill, and Kacey Knobloch.
Whelan ended the James Madison run netting her second goal of the contest with 8:16 remaining in the first half. Haggerty put James Madison back up three before Whelan found the back of the net yet against recording a first-half hat trick cutting the lead to 6-4 with 3 minutes left in the half but that was as close as the Pride would get.
James Madison dominated the draw control circle gaining a 16-7 advantage in the circle which proved to play a key role in the Dukes’ success.
Drexel 15, Towson 14 (F/OT) Box Score | Highlights | Photo Gallery
Courtney Dietzel netted her only goal of the game, which proved to be the most important goal of the game, in overtime to send Drexel to the program’s first-ever CAA Women’s Lacrosse Championship game.
Top-seeded Drexel defeated fifth-seeded Towson 15-14 in overtime behind four individuals with hat tricks. CAA Player of the Year, Karson Harris led the way with five points on a hat trick and a pair of assists. The Schneidereith sisters, Lucy and Jamie, each recorded a hat trick as well as sophomore midfielder Corinne Bednarik.
Blair Pearre led the Tigers with six points on five goals and one assist.
Drexel improves to 13-1 with the victory and awaits the winner of the second semifinal game between second-seeded James Madison and third-seeded Hofstra. Towson falls to 9-8 after the setback.
After a 75-minute lightning delay, it did not take long for the teams to find the net. Drexel’s Bednarik started the scoring just two minutes into the game and Towson’s Abbe Mona had the equalizer for the Tigers just one minute and 43 seconds later.
Drexel gained the advantage after a Jamie Schneidereith goal with 23:44 remaining in the first half and added to their lead with a Harris goal 90 seconds later to take a 3-1 lead.
The teams traded a pair of goals before Towson went on a 4-0 run to take a 6-4 lead with 10 minutes remaining in the first half. Kerri Thornton scored a pair of goals during the Tigers’ spurt to notch a first-half hat trick for the junior attack. It marked the second straight hat trick for Thornton.
Drexel answered with back-to-back goals once again from Jamie Schneiderieth and Harris to even the score at six. After Towson responded with a Hannah Delahaye goal the Dragons went on a mini 3-0 run to take a 9-7 lead with under three minutes in the first half. Bednarik initiated to run with her third goal of the half to record her sixth hat trick of the season followed by back-to-back goals for Lucy Schneidereith. Towson cut the deficit to one heading into the break as Lindsey Marshall netted her second goal of the game just 14 seconds before the buzzer.
One minute into the second half Towson tied the game at nine off a Blair Pearre free position goal. Drexel regained the lead as Colleen Grady fed Lucy Schneidereith for her third goal of the match. The assist for Grady marked her 34
th of the season and broke the Dragons’ single-season program record.
After trading goals, Pearre converted her second free position goal of the half to tie the game 11-11 before netting a second consecutive goal to give the Tigers the one-goal advantage with 16:54 remaining in the game. It marked the third straight contest with four or more goals for the CAA Rookie of the Year and her eighth such performance this spring. Towson extended its lead after a pair of goals from Pearre and Marshall to take a 14-11 advantage with 11 minutes in the contest.
Drexel had an answer, going on a 3-0 run of their own to knot the game at 14 all. Jamie Scheidereith and Harris recorded goals during the run to give them each a hat trick on the day. The teams went scoreless over the final 6:46, sending the game into overtime.
In overtime, Drexel went a man-up after a Towson green card and almost instantly Dietzel netted the game-winning goal.
Drexel held a significant advantage in the draw circle controlling 20 draws to just 11 for Towson. The Tigers were also outshot 28-21 on goal, but the Tigers' Carly Merlo recorded 13 saves while the Dragons' Zoe Bennett stopped seven shots.