BOX SCORE


Lakewood, N.J. - The top-seeded Holy Family University women's lacrosse team claimed the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Championship for the first time in program history with a 15-10 victory over No. 2 Georgian Court University Sunday afternoon in Lakewood, N.J.
 
Holy Family, winners of a program-best 11 straight games, concludes its championship season with a 14-4 overall record.  The team's 14 victories mark a new program record for most wins in a single season.  Georgian Court concludes its season at 12-7.
 
Holy Family was led by freshmen Sarah Kelly (Washington Twp., N.J./Washington Twp.) and Brianna Lancetta (Marlton, N.J./Bishop Eustace) who combined for eight of the team's 15 goals.  Kelly finished the game with four goals and one ground ball, while Lancetta finished with four goals and two ground balls.  Both players were named to the All-Tournament Team. 
 
Junior Stephanie McNesby (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) was also named to the All-Tournament team after grabbing two ground balls and controlling four draws in the championship game victory.  Senior goalkeeper Melissa Jenkins (Glenolden, Pa./Interboro) was named the Tournament's Most Valuable Player as she made 12 saves in net against the Lions.
 
Seniors Gina Mansi (Washington Twp., N.J./Washington Twp.) and Katherine Podlinski (Cherry Hill, N.J./Camden Catholic) each finished with a pair of goals. 
 
For Georgian Court, junior Samantha Shaw finished with a game-high nine points after scoring five goals and assisting on four others.  For her performance, she was named to the All-Tournament team.  Sophomore Stephanie Gallo was also named to the All-Tournament team along with fellow classmate Molly McCourt.  Gallo and McCourt each scored two goals against the Tigers.
 
The Holy Family defense held Georgian Court scoreless for a span of 18:47, including the first 16:24 of the second half, while the offense outscored the Lions 6-0 during that span to pull ahead.
 
Leading 7-6 entering the second half, Holy Family scored the first four goals of the half to take its biggest lead of the game at 11-6.  Junior Jessica Maloney (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) scored at the 18:18 mark to cap the Tigers' run.
 
Georgian Court cut Holy Family's lead to three goals after Shaw scored at 11:48 to make the score 12-9.  However, the Tigers received back-to-back goals the next two minutes by Lancetta (10:49) and Mansi (9:48) to give Holy Family a 14-9 advantage with less than ten minutes to play in regulation. 
 
The Lions would score again at the 8:02 mark with a goal by Shaw to make the score 14-10.  That goal would be the last time Georgian Court would find the back of net as the Tigers' defense held the Lions scoreless the rest of the way.  Mansi capped the Tigers' scoring with a goal at 4:49 to make the score 15-10.
 
In the first half, both teams battled back and forth with neither team gaining more than a two-goal advantage.  With less than four minutes to play in the half, Shaw gave Georgian Court a 6-5 lead with a score at the 3:11 mark.  However, Holy Family would eventually tie the game after senior Samantha Cornely (Washington Twp., N.J./Camden Catholic) scored an unassisted goal with 1:42 to make the score 6-6.  Cornely's goal would be the start of six unanswered scores by the Tigers.  Holy Family would go on to gain possession of the ball in the final minute of the first half and would enter halftime with a 7-6 lead after a goal by Kelly.  Her score came with just six seconds showing on the clock in the first half.   
 
Jenkins, who was named MVP, finished the tournament with a 10.00 goals against average to go along with a save percentage of .459.  She also made 17 saves after facing a total of 43 shots.
 
Holy Family held the advantage on draw controls (12-6) and outshot Georgian Court, 30-24.  The Lions held the edge in ground balls, 19-11.
 
NOTES: Holy Family claimed its first-ever CACC Women's Lacrosse Championship in program history.  First-year head coach Elizabeth Weber guided the Tigers to a program-best 14-4 overall record and 11-1 conference record.  The team also claimed its first-ever CACC Regular Season Title.  Senior Gina Mansi (Washington Twp., N.J./Washington Twp.) concludes her four-year career as the program's all-time leading scorer and goals scorer with 184 points and 166 goals.  Junior Stephanie McNesby (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) entered the week ranked second in total draw controls.  She concludes the season with 129 setting a new single-season record.  Holy Family is now 3-3 all-time in the CACC Tournament, including 1-1 in the title game.  The Tigers lost the 2010 championship to Georgian Court, 19-4.