Lebanon Valley, 11, Albright 9

LVC Starters
Kelley, Eck, Mellendick, Ernst, Maleski, Bannan, Brewer, Little, Jones, O'Neill, Venezia, Franklin (GK)

Albright Starters
Mela, Porreca, Bass, Nankervis, Baumann, Donohue, Connolly, Warren, Stocker, Newman, Konen, Mason (GK)

How It Happened
Behind Emma Jones' six goals, Lebanon Valley's women's lacrosse team defeated Albright 11-9 on Wednesday night in Annville to advance to the MAC Commonwealth Championship game for the first time in program history. LVC won its seventh straight game and improved to 12-4, while the Lions' season ended at 11-7.

With the score tied at 6-6 with 19:22 remaining in the contest, Albright's Casey Stocker netted an unassisted goal to give the Lions their first lead since 1-0 back in the first half. LVC responded and tied things up again, this time at 7-7, when Jones scored her 59th of the season with 18:09 to go. Less than a minute later, with the Dutchmen on the advantage, Veronica Venezia, the newly-named MAC Commonwealth Offensive Player of the Week and ECAC South Rookie of the Week, found the back of the net from Makenzie Kelley for her 37th marker of the season to give LVC the 8-7 advantage.

At the 11:23 mark of the second, the Lions tied the game again with Devon Mela's goal, but the back-and-forth half continued when Brenna O'Neill scored her 11th of the season thanks to an assist from Venezia to put the Dutchmen back up by one at 9-8. With 5:04 remaining, Albright tied things up once again when Kelly Baumann scored an unassisted goal. In the final five minutes, a motivated Jones took over and broke the 9-9 tie with 4:24 remaining, followed by another goal with 3:42 left. With 1:08 left, Leah Franklin, the reigning MAC Commonwealth, ECAC South, and National DIII Player of the Week, made a big stop on Albright's Sophie Bass. From there, the Dutchmen were able to run out the clock and hang on for one of their biggest wins in program history.

In the early going, the Lions were the first to find the back of the net, but a three-goal run by LVC that spanned over 12 minutes of action put the Dutchmen up 3-1. Venezia, Kelley, and Jones were the goal scorers in that spurt. With 7:54 left in the first, Donohue brought Albright to within one at 3-2 with an up-goal, but Jones responded with her second of the game at 5:28 to put the Dutchmen back up by two at 4-2. After Mela made it a one-score game at 4:25, Kelley scored with 1:50 remaining and LVC went into halftime with a 5-3 lead.

Highlight of the Night
Jones netted the go-ahead goal before converting a free-position score to put an exclamation point on the victory in the final five minutes of action.



Inside the Numbers
 - This is LVC's first-ever trip to the MAC Commonwealth Championship game.
 - The Dutchmen have won seven straight contests and 11 out of their last 12 games.
 - Jones finished with six goals on 10 shots to go along with a draw control. The senior went 3-for-6 from the free position.
 - Kelley and Venezia netted a pair of goals apiece and they both added an assist.
 - Venezia controlled three draws and caused two turnovers.
 - Franklin continued an incredible season and picked up her 12th win of the season. She made nine saves between the pipes, scooped up seven ground balls, and caused a turnover.
  - Jen Eck was a force on draw controls and reeled in a game-high eight draws.
 - Morgan Ernst caused a team-high three turnovers and picked up three ground balls.
 - Kristina Maleski caused a pair of turnovers and scooped up a ground ball.
 - Albright's Terae Mason made 10 saves in a losing effort.
 - Mela and Baumann led the Lions offensively with two goals each.
 - Albright outshot LVC 32-25, but the Dutchmen led in shots on goal at 21-18.
 - LVC went 16-for-19 in clears and the Lions were 21-for-25.
 - Albright held a slight edge in total ground balls at 18-14.
 - The Dutchmen dominated in draw controls at 15-5.

The Season Continues
No. 2 Lebanon Valley heads to Grantham on Saturday to take on No. 1 Messiah in the 2018 MAC Commonwealth Championship game. The time of the game is yet-to-be-determined.

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