Philadelphia, Pa. - The Holy Family University women's lacrosse team will face fourth-seeded Wilmington University in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Women's Lacrosse semifinals at 12 p.m. on Saturday, April 25. Georgian Court University will serve as host for this year's semifinals and final.
Holy Family, the top-seed in this year's tournament, will enter Saturday's semifinal boasting a 12-3 overall record and a season long 10-game winning streak. The Tigers finished conference play undefeated at 8-0 for the first time in program history and as a result claimed the CACC Regular Season Title; the program's second overall and first since 2012.
The Tigers are appearing in their sixth straight CACC Tournament and are 6-3 all-time in the tournament after advancing to their third straight championship game last season. Holy Family won titles in 2012 & 2013.
Since starting the season 2-3, the Tigers have pulled off ten straight victories with their last loss coming on March 19 versus nationally ranked Bloomsburg University.
The Tigers produced seven All-CACC selections this year and have been fueled by the offensive explosion of junior
Paige Settar (Mullica Hill, N.J./Clearview Regional) (All-CACC 1
st Team) who leads the CACC in goals scored this season with a career-high 57. She's also ranked fourth in total points with 68, also a career-high.
In addition to Settar, the Tigers have seven players that have scored double-digit goals this season. Holy Family leads the CACC in goals per game this season with a 14.33 average. Senior
Brianna Lancetta (Marlton, N.J./Bishop Eustace) (All-CACC 1
st Team) and junior
Nicole Braungart (Medford, N.J./Bishop Eustace) each have 33 goals, while junior
Erin Harmer (Philadelphia, Pa./Nazareth Academy) (All-CACC 2
nd Team) has tallied a career-high 28 goals. Braungart's 33 scores this season also set a new career-high.
Senior
Christina Bonomo (Ephrata, Pa./Ephrata) (All-CACC 2
nd Team) has totaled a career-high 27 goals to go along with a team-high 15 assists, which ranks fifth in the conference this season. Senior
Sarah Kelly (Washington Twp., N.J./Washington Twp.) has produced 19 goals, while freshman
Rose Bachmayer (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) has scored ten goals this season. Kelly also leads the team with 42 ground balls.
Defensively, seniors
Caitlin Carrezola (Langhorne, Pa./Neshaminy) (All-CACC 1
st Team) and
Kimber Kisselback (Langhorne, Pa./Neshaminy) (All-CACC 2
nd Team),who have combined for 32 caused turnovers this season, have anchored the Tigers' defense. Carrezola has totaled 11 caused turnovers to go along with 36 ground balls. Kisselback, the program's all-time leader with 53 career caused turnovers, has a season-high 21 this season.
Sophomores
Kacie Booth (Maple Shade, N.J./Maple Shade) and
Ursula Coyle (Philadelphia, Pa./Little Flower) (All-CACC 2
nd Team) have each started all 15 games on defense as well as the Tigers have produced one of the top defense's in the conference. In fact, the Tigers have allowed the fewest goals (65) in conference play this season and second lowest overall (156).
Booth has totaled 34 ground balls and six caused turnovers this year, while Coyle has 27 ground balls and eight caused turnovers.
Junior
Grace Deckert (Jarrettsville, Md./Fallston) has been another key component to the team's success this season as she has held opponents to just 10.30 goals per game in net. In addition, Deckert has made over 100 saves for the third straight season with 107 and has a career-high .421 save percentage entering postseason.
Holy Family is 10-3 all-time versus Wilmington and has won the previous five meetings. The Tigers are also 2-0 versus the Wildcats in the postseason with both victories coming in the semifinals (2010 & 2012).
The winner of Saturday's semifinal will advance to the conference championship game to face the winner of the #2 Georgian Court/#3 Philadelphia University semifinal. This year's championship game is set for 12 p.m. on Sunday.
- HFU -
