Syracuse, N.Y. – Natalie Coutu tallied six points to lead second-seeded Stonehill College to a 15-8 victory over the top-seeded Le Moyne College women's lacrosse team in the NEC Championship game on Saturday afternoon at Ted Grant Field.
The Skyhawks win Stonehill's first NEC championship since joining the conference in July 2022.
Le Moyne finishes the season with a 14-4 record and registered the largest turnaround in Division I this season by win improvement (10) and winning percentage improvement (.543). The 14 wins are the third-most in the program's Division I eras (1999-2010 and 2024-26).
The Dolphins scored the first two goals in the opening three minutes. Junior midfielder
Julia Blakeslee (Ithaca, N.Y./Ithaca) started the scoring at the 12:52 mark after taking a pass from sophomore midfielder
Carrie Bennett (Clifton Park, N.Y./Shenendehowa) for her 18th goal of the season. Just 40 seconds later, junior midfielder
Maddi Barney (Lorraine, N.Y./South Jefferson) tallied her 34th goal of the campaign off a feed from first-year graduate student
Francesca Tortora (Syracuse, N.Y./Cicero-North Syracuse/Stony Brook).
The Skyhawks, who scored the final three goals of the quarter, got on the scoreboard at the 8:55 mark as NEC Rookie of the Year Sophia Gouveia finished off a feed from Coutu for her 44th goal of the year. Just under four minutes later, Caitlin Ruggiero registered her 16th goal of the season after receiving a pass in an extra-player situation from Meaghan Fealy. Only 54 seconds later, NEC Offensive Player of the Year Grace Murphy converted a free-position shot in another extra-player opportunity for her 61st marker of the campaign.
Val Beigel extended Stonehill's run to four straight goals by finding the net for the 10th time this season just 45 seconds into the fourth quarter.
Junior attacker
Emily Noel (Manlius, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius) snapped Le Moyne's scoring drought of 14:58 by scooping up the rebound of a saved shot and depositing the ball into the net at the 12:14 mark for her ninth goal of the year.
Stonehill, which defeated the Dolphins at Ted Grant Field for the first time in nine all-time meetings, scored the final four goals of the half to take an 8-3 lead into the intermission. Taylor Green started the streak at the 11:23 mark after collecting a pass from Coutu. Gouveia tallied an extra-player goal with 8:47 left after picking up a loose ball in front of the net off a Le Moyne turnover. Emily LaPia made it 7-3 with 6:19 left off a free-position shot for her sixth marker of the year. Coutu completed the scoring with 1:28 remaining on a free-position shot for her 38th goal of the campaign.
Green pushed the run to five consecutive goals at the 12:39 mark of the third quarter after receiving a feed in an extra-player situation from Coutu.
Tortora ended her team's drought of 15:53 with a player-down tally with 11:21 remaining in the stanza for her 40th goal of the year.
The Skyhawks took advantage of numerous cards on the Dolphins to score four straight extra-player goals. Green started the run at the 6:53 mark with a free-position goal. Beigel then converted a free-position shot of her own with 5:23 left. After a non-releasable card on the Dolphins, Coutu converted a free-position shot two seconds later for her 39th goal of the year with 1:15 to go. She then fed Gouveia 44 seconds later for her 46th goal of the season for a 13-4 lead.
Redshirt junior attacker
Olivia Lockwood (Syracuse, N.Y./West Genesee/Onondaga C.C.) closed out the scoring in the quarter by finding the back of the net at the buzzer on a free-position shot.
The teams traded goals over the opening 10 minutes of the fourth quarter. Gouveia tallied her fourth goal of the contest with 10:26 left on a free-position shot. Sophomore midfielder
Emily Markovina (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale) registered her 12th goal of the year with 7:45 remaining after taking a pass from senior attacker
Bella Sampo (Syracuse, N.Y./Westhill). Green finished off Stonehill's scoring with her team's ninth extra-player goal of the game on a free-position shot with 6:45 to play. Tortora ended the see-saw during an extra-player situation with 5:08 to go. With the goal, Tortora passed Amanda Daniels '03 from 2000 and Liz Hewitt '05 from 2005 for the eighth-most goals in the program's Division I tenures with her 41st.
Lockwood completed the game's scoring with 2:59 remaining after taking a pass in an extra-player situation from Tortora. With the assist, Tortora tied Gold Wave Hall of Fame member Amanda Keegan '07 from 2007 and Whitney Vecchio '08 from 2008 for the third-most assists in a campaign in a Division I season with 28. She also passed Vecchio from 2006 for the fourth-most points in the program's Division I eras with 69.
Junior goalkeeper
Amanda Manfredi (East Islip, N.Y./East Islip) recorded seven saves between the pipes in the setback. Manfredi ended the season with an 8.32 goals against average, the best mark in the program's Division I tenures and the 10th-best in its history. With two in the game, Blakeslee finished the season with 148 draw controls, the most in a Division I season and the third-most in a season in the program's history, while her per game average of 8.22 is the top mark by over 1.3. Nina Tremonte tallied nine saves for the Skyhawks and earned Tournament Most Valuable Player.
