PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. – The comeback effort came up just short for the No. 5 seed Saint Anselm College women's lacrosse team against No. 1 seed Pace in Wednesday night's Northeast-10 Conference (NE10) Championship Semifinals. Trailing by six in the third quarter, the Hawks scored six of the game's final seven goals, but ultimately fell by a final score of 14-13 to the Setters.
UP NEXT:
- Saint Anselm now awaits the NCAA Division II Selection Show, scheduled for Sunday, May 4th at 8:30 p.m., to see if they will clinch an at-large bid to the NCAA postseason. It would be just the second-ever NCAA tournament berth for the Hawks and the first since 2014.
Score: No. 25 Saint Anselm 13, No. 8 Pace 14
Records: No. 25 Saint Anselm (12-6), No. 8 Bentley (16-3)
Location: Pleasantville, N.Y. (Northwell Stadium)
Date: Wednesday, April 30, 2025
Attendance: 300
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Both teams generated scoring chances early in the game, but the goaltenders stood tall at each end to keep the game scoreless five minutes in. Senior Elizabeth Driscoll (Marblehead, Mass.) made saves on the first two shots she faced for Saint Anselm, while Pace netminder Samantha Tanguay answered with a save of her own.
- At the 9:16 mark of the first quarter, Gigi Genovese gave the Setters a 1-0 advantage with the game's opening goal.
- A few minutes later, the Hawks responded as senior Kendra Sabotka (Rutland, Vt.) set up senior Abigail Christmas (Elmira, N.Y.) for a goal that tied the score at 1-1.
- After winning the ensuing draw control, Pace took it to the offensive end and regained the lead just 42 seconds after conceding. Abigail O'Connor scored off a feed from Nikki Mottes as the home team jumped back in front, 2-1.
- Saint Anselm closed the first quarter with all the momentum, scoring three unanswered goals in the final three minutes to take a 4-2 lead. Christmas, senior Jaycie Balboni (Billerica, Mass.), and sophomore Julia Rowley (Dover, N.H.) all scored for the Hawks during that stretch.
- The Hawks nearly extended their lead 20 seconds into the second quarter as Christmas had a shot hit the cross-bar. Rowley then had a shot saved by Tanguay a few seconds later.
- After a successful clear, the Setters found the back of the net at the other end courtesy of a player-down goal by Marissa Doty. That was the first of three straight goals by Pace. Mackenzie Carita scored the next two to put the home team back in front, 5-4.
- 35 seconds after Pace took the lead, Saint Anselm tied the score as senior Samantha Rivet (Sudbury, Mass.) caught a pass form sophomore Alyssa Hill (Brookline, N.H.) and finished.
- The Setters continued to get good looks at the offensive end and nearly took the lead again, but Driscoll came up with back-to-back saves for the Hawks to keep it tied at 5-5.
- Pace scored three more times in the final 6:15 of the second quarter to take an 8-5 lead at halftime. Maddie Schubert, Mary Kate Nawrocki, and Annie Sheehan all scored for the home team, the ladder of which came on a free-position shot.
- Rivet got a good look for Saint Anselm before the end of the half, but her shot hit the cross-bar and was cleared away as the Hawks trailed by three goals going into the second half.
- A green card was issued to the Hawks early in the third quarter. The Setters took advantage as Genovese scored a player-up free-position goal, making it a 9-5 game.
- Pace won the ensuing draw control and obtained another offensive possession, which led to a yellow card being shown to Saint Anselm. Sheehan added another goal for the Setters while up a player and followed that up with her third of the game 1:24 later, increasing her team's lead to 11-5.
- The Hawks called timeout and responded as Rivet won a draw control, leading to a goal by sophomore Lucy Mawn (Harwich, Mass.).
- The two teams then traded goals over the next few minutes. Mawn and Rowley scored for Saint Anselm, but Carita and Schubert scored for Pace as they maintained their five-goal lead, 13-8.
- With less than three minutes left in the third, the Hawks scored twice in 44 seconds. Sabtoka scored first off a feed from Rowley before Christmas added another score off a pass from Hill as the visitors made it a three-goal game entering the fourth quarter with the score at 13-10.
- Under two minutes into the final period, Genovese put the Setters up by four with her third goal of the night.
- Pace had a couple of opportunities to extend the lead back up to five, but Genovese hit the post with a shot and Driscoll made two more saves to keep Saint Anselm within striking distance.
- The Setters were shown a yellow card with eight minutes remaining, and during the player-up chance, freshman Ayla McDermod (Hanover, Mass.) scored for the Hawks to make it 14-11.
- With 6:13 left, Pace was awarded a free-position shot. However, Sheehan hit the cross-bar and the ball was cleared away. A few minutes later, the Setters were given another free-position chance, but Driscoll denied the shot by Mottes to keep the Hawks down by three.
- Saint Anselm took a timeout with under four minutes to go. Out of the timeout, McDermod scored her second of the quarter. She also won the ensuing draw control and later assisted Rowley's third goal of the game, making it 14-13 with 2:33 left.
- With one minute remaining, Pace had a chance to get an insurance goal, but Driscoll stopped a shot by Carita, giving Saint Anselm one last chance to tie the score. At the other end, Tanguay swallowed up a shot by Rowley with four seconds left as the Setters held on for the 14-13 win to advance to their third straight NE10 title game.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Pace held a 40-27 advantage in total shots in addition to a 25-20 edge in shots on goal.
- The Setters also controlled the center circle with a 17-11 lead (60.7%) on draw controls. Rivet finished with five draw controls to lead the Hawks.
- Ground balls were even with both teams scooping up nine in the game. Junior Julia Marsden (Norfolk, Mass.) picked up three ground balls to lead Saint Anselm.
- Both teams took fairly good care of the ball. Saint Anselm committed 12 turnovers, while Pace had only eight giveaways.
- Defensively, the Hawks caused five of those turnovers, while the Setters forced 11 giveaways. Christmas led the Hawks with two caused turnovers.
- Pace was perfect on clear attempts, going 16-16 (100%). Saint Anselm went 15-19 (78.9%) on clears.
- The Setters had the upper hand on free-position shots, going 2-5 (40.0%). The Hawks were held scoreless on just one free-position chance.
- The game featured seven total penalties with Saint Anselm being called for four and Pace being called for three. There were three green cards and four yellow cards issued.
- As a result, the Setters scored a pair of player-up goals in addition to a player-down goal. The Hawks scored one player-up goal of their own.
- Christmas and Rowley led Saint Anselm with three goals each. It was the first career hat trick for Rowley, who also added a pair of assists for a game-high five points. She now has 16 goals on the year.
- Christmas increased her total to 39 goals this season, which is second-most on the team and tied for 10th-most in the NE10.
- Mawn and McDermod both produced two goals and an assist. McDermod now has 14 multi-goal games this spring, and her 46 goals lead the team and are eighth-most in the conference.
- Hill recorded three assists in the game, marking her seventh straight multi-assist game. Her 37 assists are the most of any Hawk and are the third-most in the league. She also leads the team and ranks top 10 in the NE10 with 64 points.
- Carita, Genovese, and Sheehan scored three goals apiece to lead Pace.
- Driscoll made 14 saves in the cage and posted a .500 save percentage for the Hawks in the loss.
- Tanguay made seven saves and allowed 13 goals in the win for the Setters.
- This marked the 11th all-time meeting between these two programs. Saint Anselm falls to 1-10 overall against Pace in the series that began in 2015.
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