2019 MAAC Women’s Lacrosse Championship Preview
2019 MAAC Women’s Lacrosse Championship Preview
EDISON, NJ – The 2019 MAAC Women’s Lacrosse Championship is set to begin on Saturday, April 27, with a pair of first round matchups. No. 3 Siena College will host No. 6 Canisius College in Loudonville, NY, while No. 5 Marist College travels to face No. 4 Manhattan College in Riverdale, New York.
The first match of the championship features No. 4 Manhattan (11-5, 6-2 MAAC) and No. 5 Marist (7-9, 4-4) at 11:00 a.m. at Gaelic Park. Manhattan’s defense has kept opponents in check this season, allowing a league low 8.73 goals per game. On the offensive side, the Jaspers are led by senior attack Molly Fitzpatrick, who nets 2.56 goals per game on average. Manhattan will look to climb back to the championship game for the first time since 2005, when they won it all over runner-up Siena.
Marist will also fight to make it through the first two rounds to the championship game, where the team hasn’t been since 2014. The Red Foxes’ last title win came four years prior to that - 2010. The team will look to do so behind junior attack Samantha Mehalick, who is second in the league with 61 goals, and leads in average per game with 3.81. The last matchup between Manhattan and Marist was on March 27, and resulted in a 12-10 victory for the Jaspers.
The second game of the afternoon sees No. 3 Siena (10-6, 6-2) in Loudonville, New York at 3:00 p.m hosting No. 6 Canisius (3-14, 2-6). The Saints boast the second-best scoring offense in the league, netting 12.5 goals every contest. Redshirt freshman Kaitlyn Dowsett leads the team in goals with 43, while sophomores Kerry Gerety and Nicole McNeely lead the team in helpers with 24 and 20 respectively.
Canisius looks to get production from the 2018 MAAC Offensive Player of the Year, senior attack Jourdan Roemer. This season, Roemer sits sixth in the MAAC in points with 60, netting 40 goals and 20 assists. The last meeting between Siena and Canisius resulted in a 17-16 overtime win for the Saints.
Regular season champion Fairfield University (13-3, 8-0) will host the remaining three games of the championship. The Stags finished the season undefeated in MAAC play, claiming the first seed and home field advantage. Defense has been a strong point throughout the season for the Stags, who cause a MAAC-high 10.56 turnovers per game. Fairfield is backed by freshman goalkeeper Olivia Conquest, who claims the sixth-best save percentage in the conference at .439 while making 9.06 saves per game, enough for fourth in the MAAC. Midfielder Brooke Gallagher leads the Stags on the offensive side, racking up 4.33 points per game, good for fourth in the conference. Fairfield will begin the hunt for a second-straight title on May 2 when the team faces the lowest reaming seed to come out of the first-round.
The final remaining team, No. 2 Monmouth University (12-5, 6-2), will also enjoy a first-round bye. The Hawks will look to make their first championship game since the 2016 season and claim their first title in school history. Monmouth holds the highest scoring offense in the league, averaging 13.76 goals per game. The offense is led by junior Nicole Ceraso, who boasts the most points per game in the MAAC at 4.71. The Hawks have won their last three games leading up to the championship and will take that momentum to May 2 where they will face the highest remaining seed to come out of the first-round.
| 2019 MAAC Women’s Lacrosse Championship Schedule |
| Round |
Game |
Matchup |
Date |
Time |
Watch |
| First Round |
Game 1 |
No. 3 Siena vs No. 6 Canisius |
Apr 27 |
3:00 p.m. |
MAAC.TV |
| First Round |
Game 2 |
No. 4 Manhattan vs No. 5 Marist |
Apr 27 |
11:00 a.m. |
MAAC.TV |
| Semifinal |
Game 3 |
No. 1 Fairfield vs Lower Advancing Seed |
May 2 |
3:00 p.m. |
ESPN+ |
| Semifinal |
Game 4 |
No. 2 Monmouth vs Higher Advancing Seed |
May 2 |
6:00 p.m. |
ESPN+ |
| Championship |
Game 5 |
Game 3 Winner vs Game 4 Winner |
May 4 |
12:00 p.m. |
ESPN+ |
For more information on the 2019 Women’s Lacrosse Championship, visit
maacsports.com/wlax. Championship tickets can be purchased at
maacsports.com/tickets and will also be sold on-site during the championship.
About the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference:
With 11 institutions strongly bound by the sound principles of quality and integrity in academics and excellence in athletics, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) is in its 38
th year of competition during the 2018-19 academic year. Current Conference members include: Canisius College, Fairfield University, Iona College, Manhattan College, Marist College, Monmouth University, Niagara University, Quinnipiac University, Rider University, Saint Peter’s University, and Siena College.