PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. – The No. 5 seed and nationally ranked No. 25 Saint Anselm College women's lacrosse team will travel to take on No. 1 seed and No. 8 Pace in the Northeast-10 Conference (NE10) Championship Semifinals on Wednesday, April 30th. Saint Anselm is coming off a
10-9 upset win over No. 4 seed Bentley in the Quarterfinals, while Pace
dominated in a 19-4 win over No. 8 seed SNHU for their fifth straight win.
GAME INFO:
Date: Wednesday, April 30th, 2025
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Location: Pleasantville, N.Y. (Northwell Stadium)
Live Stream:
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Live Stats:
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ALL-TIME SERIES:
There have been 10 meetings between Pace and Saint Anselm. The Setters currently hold a 9-1 record in the all-time series. All nine wins for the Setters have been consecutive, with the lone Hawks victory coming in a
20-13 win in the first-ever meeting in 2015. This season, Pace secured a
17-11 home win as the teams met to close out their regular seasons.
SEMIFINAL PREVIEW:
Saint Anselm enters the NE10 Semifinals with a 12-5 overall record and a 6-4 mark in conference play. They were ranked No. 25 in this week's Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) national poll. This postseason marks the Hawks' 12th appearance in the NE10 Championship, and it will be their third trip to the Semifinals. Their last semifinal appearance came in 2023 – also against Pace.
This season, the Hawks rank fifth in the NE10 in scoring offense, averaging 14.35 goals per game, and sit fourth in assists per game at 6.29. Their defensive unit, however, is their biggest strength. Saint Anselm leads the conference in save percentage (.524), ranks second in goals-against average (9.05), and is second in caused turnovers per game (10.76).
Pace enters the matchup as the top seed in the NE10, finishing the regular season at 15-3 overall and 9-1 in league play. The Setters are also ranked No. 8 nationally by the ILWCA.This marks their fifth appearance in the Semifinals as they look to reach the title game for the third time. Pace won its first NE10 championship last season over Adelphi.
Statistically, the Setters lead the NE10 in nearly every offensive category, including scoring margin (6.8), goals per game (16.06), shots per game (36.39), shots on goal per game (28.06), and draw controls per game (15.89). They also commit the fewest turnovers per game (12.22). On defense, they rank third in goals-against average at 9.46 per game.
KEY PLAYERS:
Saint Anselm saw two players take home major honors in the NE10 All-Conference awards. Senior
Elizabeth Driscoll (Marblehead, Mass.) was named NE10 Goalkeeper of the Year for the second time in her career, while freshman
Ayla McDermod (Hanover, Mass.) earned NE10 Rookie of the Year honors.
Driscoll became the first player in program history to win Goalkeeper of the Year twice and also earned a spot on the All-NE10 First Team. She leads the NE10 and ranks second in all of NCAA Division II with a .541 save percentage. She also sits second in the league in saves per game (10.06) and third in goals-against average (9.38).
McDermod made an immediate impact in her debut season, becoming just the third player in program history to win Rookie of the Year. She was also named to the All-NE10 Third Team and the All-Rookie Team. Her 44 goals led the team and ranked ninth in the NE10, and she was especially effective on free-position shots, scoring 13 times. She found the back of the net in each of her last 12 games, recording multiple goals in nine of them.
Four additional Hawks were named to the All-NE10 Second Team: senior
Abigail Christmas (Elmira, N.Y.), junior
Elyse Scales (Walpole, Mass.), and sophomores
Alyssa Hill (Brookline, N.H.) and
Lucy Mawn (Harwich, Mass.). Hill ranked third in the conference in both total assists (34) and assists per game (2.0), while finishing ninth with a team-high in total points (61). Christmas led the team with a team-best six-goal performance against SNHU and tallied 36 goals overall, second-most on the squad. Mawn was dominant on draw controls, ranking third in the NE10 with 4.82 per game and 82 overall, to go along with 20 goals. Scales anchored the defense, collecting 25 ground balls and forcing 22 turnovers.
Senior
Samantha Rivet (Sudbury, Mass.) joined McDermod on the All-NE10 Third Team. She ranked second on the team with 3.12 draw controls per game and tied for the team lead with 1.29 caused turnovers per game. Rivet also contributed offensively with 20 goals and 13 assists.
Pace placed four players on the All-NE10 First Team: Mackenzie Carita, Colleen Gilligan, Nikki Mottes, and Annie Sheehan. Carita ranked second in the conference with 3.61 goals per game, finishing with 65 goals and 80 total points. Mottes led the team with 52 assists, ranking fourth in the NE10, and finished second in total points (86), averaging 4.78 per game. Sheehan contributed across the board, tallying 34 goals, 21 assists, 29 ground balls, 24 draw controls, and 19 caused turnovers. Gilligan was a defensive standout with 38 ground balls and 23 caused turnovers.
The Setters also had four more players earn All-Conference honors: Gigi Genovese and Alyssa Wolf on the Second Team, and Marissa Doty and Sarah Scheidel on the Third Team. Genovese scored 32 goals with six assists. Wolf caused 24 turnovers and picked up 23 ground balls. Doty added 26 goals, while Scheidel led the team with 52 draw controls and added 30 ground balls.
HEAD COACHES:
Meghan Smith '12 is in her 10th season at the helm for Saint Anselm. She is the winningest coach in program history with an all-time record of 83-67. She has led the Hawks to winning records in each of the last three seasons while making the NE10 Semifinals for the second time in that stretch as well.
Tricia Molfetta is in her eighth season as head coach for Pace, having led the team to a record of 106-28 during her tenure. She led the Setters to a national championship in 2023 before returning in 2024 to collect an NE10 title .
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