ANNVILLE, Pa. – The Lebanon Valley Women's Lacrosse team is headed back to the Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom Championship game for the second consecutive year after using a strong first half to knock off third-seeded DeSales University 21-12 on Wednesday evening at Arnold Field in the MAC Freedom Semifinals.
 
The Dutchmen (13-5) had six different goal scorers in the game as they jumped out to a 14-5 halftime lead over the Bulldogs (15-3). The teams battled over the first two minutes of the game with each team causing a turnover on the first couple of possessions. Elizabeth Morgan took the first shot of the game on a free position attempt which was saved by the Bulldogs' goalie. Molly Whisler put the Dutchmen on the board with 10:42 on the clock as she scored her 38th goal of the year off an assist by Emily Beard. DeSales answered with a goal two minutes later as the Dutchmen called the first timeout of the game.
 
The timeout worked to perfection as LVC rattled off four goals over the next three minutes with the Bulldogs unable to gain possession of the ball once during the run. Chloe Moser won the draw control out of the timeout and 40 seconds later Alyssa Wene eluded a defender and scored her first goal of the game. Anna Ridlon picked up the next draw control and Beard scored on a free position shot to make it 3-1. Moser won another draw and LVC got the ball into the stick of Wene who was able to find space and score again. After a DSU timeout, Moser won her second consecutive draw control and after a foul, Kyle Hebert scored a free position to put the Dutchmen up by four with 5:42 still to play in the quarter.
 
The Bulldogs were able to regroup and stopped the run with a goal three minutes later. After a green card to a Bulldog attacker, Bethany Cohee found Beard over the middle for a woman-up goal with a little over a minute to play in the quarter. Cohee then assisted Whisler for her second goal of the game 30 seconds later to put LVC up 7-2.
 
Morgan started the scoring in the second quarter with an unassisted goal a little over a minute in. A couple minutes later the sophomore found the back of the net again off a pass from Beard to push the lead to 9-2. The offense kept the pressure on the Bulldogs as Morgan put a shot high and then had a free position shot saved before Katie DeWitt had a shot go wide. The Bulldogs committed a foul inside eight meters on Wene and she made them pay for it as she scored on the free position attempt to make it 10-2 with 9:22 left in the half. The Bulldogs responded with a pair of goals to cut the lead to six with 5:30 on the clock.
 
LVC countered right back with four goals over the next four minutes. After Wene won the draw control following the DSU goal, Beard fired a shot into the back of the net for her third goal of the game. Wene then ran past a defender and scored before Morgan tallied her third goal of the quarter off an assist by Beard. The Dutchmen reached the 10-goal advantage with right around a minute and a half left in the half as Whisler hit Beard over the middle for a goal. DeSales was able to gain some momentum going into the half with a goal right before the clock expired to make it 14-5.
 
The Bulldogs came out of the break and scored three goals over the first seven minutes to cut the deficit down to six at 14-8 and force the Dutchmen to call the first timeout of the half. As they did in the first half, LVC response out of the timeout was great as Beard stopped the run with a goal and then Cohee scored on a free position shot to get the lead back up to eight. The Bulldogs made another run scoring a pair of goals but once again the Dutchmen answered with three goals in the final three minutes of the quarter to go up 19-10. Morgan scored the first of the three goals before Beard added two more goals on a free position shot and another great shot into the back of the net after beating a defender.
 
After scoreless first three minutes of the fourth quarter where Wene had a shot saved and the Bulldogs sent a free position shot high, Beard put the Dutchmen back up by 10 as Whisler assisted on another one of the fifth year's goals. The Dutchmen worked possession with the running clock and were able to add to the lead with seven minutes left as Morgan scored unassisted to make it 21-10. The Dutchmen killed off a lot of clock without a shot before DeSales scored with just under five to play to get the advantage back down to 10 goals. Cohee put a shot wide and then Beard had a shot saved before DeSales scored the final goal of the game with 1:43 left.
 
Inside the Box

• Beard had a career-high 11 points on eight goals and three assists in her final game on Arnold Field. The attacker tied the single season program record at 72 goals scored.
• Morgan had five goals for the second time this year against the Bulldogs. She has scored five goals in five of the last eight games.
• Wene had four goals on seven shots and won five draw controls. The senior also picked up four ground balls.
• Whisler finished with four points on two goals and two assists. She surpassed 100 career points in the game with her second goal of the first quarter being her milestone point.
• Cohee had three points on one goal and two assists. The junior is tied for second in the record books with her 62 assists on the season.
• Hebert scored a goal and had three draw controls.
• Moser won a game-high 14 draw controls to give her 132 on the season. Her 14 draw controls are the second-most this season.
• Annelise Vetter had three caused turnovers and two ground balls to lead the defensive effort.
• Gigi Ditsky picked up her 13th win of the year with four saves, a caused turnover, and a ground ball.
• The Dutchmen were 5-for-8 on free position shots.
• LVC had a 37-24 shot advantage and a decisive 25-11 advantage in draw controls.
• Lebanon Valley scored 20 or more goals in a game for the seventh time this year.

Up Next
The Dutchmen will have a MAC Freedom Final rematch with top-seeded and 18th-ranked Stevens Institute of Technology on Saturday afternoon in Hoboken, New Jersey. The Ducks were 20-1 winners over fourth-seeded Misericordia University in the other semifinal. Game time is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday at the DeBaun Athletic Complex.

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