Syracuse, N.Y. – Graduate student attacker
Francesca Tortora (Syracuse, N.Y./Cicero-North Syracuse/Stony Brook) registered five points to lead the top-seeded Le Moyne College women's lacrosse team to a berth in the NEC Championship game with a 16-6 victory over FDU on Thursday afternoon in the semifinals at Ted Grant Field.
The Dolphins will take on second-seeded Stonehill College in the championship game on Saturday at 12:00 p.m. after the Skyhawks defeated LIU, 14-9, in the other semifinal. The Dolphins advance to the NEC title game for the first time in their three seasons in the conference and advance to a conference championship game for the 16th time in the program's history (all over the last 25 seasons, three of which they weren't in a conference, while a conference championship wasn't held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic). The Dolphins are 7-8 in their previous 15 title game appearances (4-1 MAAC, 3-7 NE10), including 1-3 at Ted Grant Field, while one of their road losses came in overtime at Stonehill in the 2022 NE10 Championship game.
The teams traded goals in the first quarter. Senior attacker
Alexa Strelick (Webster, N.Y./Webster Thomas) started the scoring just 79 seconds into the game by converting a free-position shot for her 18th goal of the season. All-NEC Second Team selection Brielle McInaw evened the score at the 9:12 mark by scoring off a free-position shot of her own. Sophomore midfielder
Carrie Bennett (Clifton Park, N.Y./Shenendehowa) put the Dolphins in front for good with her third goal of the season with 2:27 remaining in the quarter.
Le Moyne, which has won 14 games in a season at the Division I level for just the third time, tallied the first four goals of the second quarter to take control of the game. Senior midfielder
Sara Hunter (Baldwinsville, N.Y./C.W. Baker) ignited the run with a free-position tally at the 10:58 mark for her seventh goal of the campaign. Following a green card on the Knights, Tortora finished off a feed from senior attacker
Bella Sampo (Syracuse, N.Y./Westhill) in the extra-player situation for her 37th goal of the season. Just 55 seconds later, sophomore attacker
Mackenzie Prentice (Clay, N.Y./Cicero-North Syracuse) netted her ninth goal of the year after receiving a pass from Tortora. Another 51 seconds later, Tortora was part of Le Moyne's third straight goal by finding junior attacker
Emily Noel (Manlius, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius) for her eighth marker of the season.
The Knights countered with the next two goals to get back within 6-3. Mia Layne recorded her 16th goal of the year with 6:05 left off a feed from Mia Devino. McInaw followed with a free-position tally with 2:42 to go for her 27th goal of the campaign.
Strelick completed the scoring in the half with 15 seconds remaining by converting another free-position shot.
Following a yellow card on Tortora, which negated a goal, and a green card by another Dolphin, Nora Codianni scored in the two-player up situation off a pass from Riley Eaton for her 34th goal of the season.
The Dolphins closed out the quarter with the final four goals. Tortora got the streak started by finding the back of the net off a free-position shot with 7:21 remaining. Sophomore midfielder
Emily Markovina (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale) recorded her 10th goal of the campaign with 5:12 left after taking a feed from Prentice in an extra-player situation. Markovina scored again in the same extra-player opportunity with 4:00 left off a dish from Bennett. Tortora capped the scoring in the quarter by converting another free-position shot with 2:29 remaining for her 39th goal of the season. With the goal, Tortora passed Gold Wave Hall of Fame member Amanda Keegan '07 for the fifth-most points in a season by a Dolphin at the Division I level with her 65th point.
Le Moyne extended its run to six straight goals with the first two tallies of the fourth quarter. Prentice scored just 24 seconds into the period off a pass from Sampo, who followed 37 seconds later with her 12th goal of the season to force an FDU timeout.
The games next three goals were scored by Westhill High School products. Karly Dillabough snapped FDU's scoreless of just over 18 minutes with a player-down, free-position goal with 9:58 remaining. Sampo answered back 53 seconds later with her 13th goal of the campaign. Dillabough scored off another free-position shot with 6:51 to play for FDU's final goal.
The Dolphins scored the final two goals of the game. Prentice netted her third goal of the day with 4:11 after taking a pass in an extra-player situation from Noel. Bennett completed the scoring with 2:57 remaining.
Junior goalkeeper
Amanda Manfredi (East Islip, N.Y./East Islip), the NEC Goalkeeper of the Year, turned away five shots for her 14th victory of the season. Junior midfielder
Julia Blakeslee (Ithaca, N.Y./Ithaca), an All-NEC Second Team honoree, tied her own Division I era program record with 14 draw controls. She now has 146 draw controls this year, the third-most in the program's history and just eight shy of the single-season program record of 154 set by Bryanna Fazio '19 during the team's national championship-winning campaign in 2018.
