Emmanuel Claims First GNAC Title Since 2014, Defeats JWU 15-12

Recap/Photo Courtesy of Emmanuel Athletic Communications

Boston, Mass. - For the first time since 2014, Emmanuel women's lacrosse is back in the NCAA Tournament, claiming the conference's automatic bid, following a 15-12 victory in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Championship Game against Johnson & Wales on Saturday morning from Clemente Field.

Clinching the GNAC's automatic bid not only broke a decades-long drought from the NCAA Tournament, but marked the first postseason win over the Wildcats in team history, a record that included being 0-2 in GNAC Championship Games prior to today.

Tied 11-11 with 11:48 remaining, the Saints cleared the final challenge between them and the GNAC Crown, making winning plays over the final dozen minutes, scoring the next four goals, on the way to their NCAA Tournament birth.

Junior Madeline Wright found the back of the net for the last of her three goals on the day, giving the Saints a 12-11 edge. The scoring continued four minutes later as senior Dejaliyah Srimouksavanh boosted the lead to a pair.

Rookie Ella Stein was next to the goal for Emmanuel scoring three minutes after Srimouksavanh, adding further to the lead. Fellow first-year Anna Nichols capped off the four-goal run, scoring a player-up goal, giving the Saints a 15-11 lead. Wildcats senior Isabella Nugent would get one back late for Johnson & Wales, but the Saints closing stretch brought them the 15-12 victory.

A high-octane first quarter led to nine goals total between the Saints and Wildcats, with Emmanuel holding a 5-4 lead after 15 minutes. Four goals in the opening 5:11 of play pushed the Wildcats out to a 3-1 edge. But the Saints finished the frame with four of the last five goals, including a pair for Stein, helping the Saints to a 5-4 lead.

The defending champions in Johnson & Wales battled back in the second quarter, netting three-in-a-row on a goal by junior Mila Kuilan and a pair for senior Madeleine Gould, as the Wildcats shot back in front, 7-5. But the final tally of the quarter belonged to the Saints as junior Avery Robillard scored with 1:01 left in the half, cutting the deficit to one at the half.

Emmanuel was off and running following the break, scoring three times in a span of 2:34, retaking the lead at 9-7. Senior Rachel Canedy, Nichols, and Wright combined for the three goals to give the Saints a two-goal edge.

Gould scored back-to-back tallies for the Wildcats midway through the quarter, tying the game, before Nichols answered back for the Saints, as the home side led 11-9 after three quarters. First-year Kelsey Higgins was next in line for consecutive goals, scoring a pair for the visitors in a stretch of 50 seconds, tying the game at 11-11.

"Not to be cliché, but we had our season of ups and downs, but I was confident coming into today," said Saints head coach Liz Maloney. "There was something that happened in mid-season and I knew we'd be here today."

The winningest coach in team history, Maloney's belief and confidence in her side left little doubt as to the final result, but the history with Johnson & Wales was difficult to ignore.

"I believe every girl on this team was confident today. We knew we weren't going to have a repeat of last year. We wanted a different memory out here (at Clemente). That memory sat with us coming into the game and we set out to make a new memory today."

Srimouksavanh, one of the Saints' three team captains, knew that Saturday wouldn't be the last time she laced up for Emmanuel while reflecting on the hard work of the teams of Saints past.

"Since my first year, we've been building this program brick-by-brick and we've all put in so much work to grow this program," said Srimouksavanh. "We did it as a team but we couldn't have done it with (Emma) Marrs, Kara (DiBeneditto), and Maloney. We were always the team that got so close but never won, and this time it was us."

Fellow co-captain Delaney Brown, a two-time GNAC Defensive Player of the Year echoed the thoughts of Srimouksavanh, reflecting on how the past led to this moment.

"I've pictured this every year since coming here and we've been so close. I look around and I'm just in shock," said Brown. "This year's team had the chemistry, we trusted each other, we love each other, on and off the field, and that made the difference."

With the game still in the balance, Robillard, also a co-captain, made the hustle plays with her fellow Saints to secure victory on Saturday.

"The message from the coaches and team was to give it everything we had. We are in this game and it's time to give it all," said Robillard. "With 30 minutes left, the final message was we want this more, so let's just go out there and get it."

Nichols led the Saints with four goals, to go along with a pair of ground balls. Stein and Wright each netted a hat trick while Wright added three ground balls, three caused turnovers, and four draw controls. Robillard and Canedy added two goals each. Senior goalie Isabella Thomas made a half-dozen stops for the Saints, improving to 14-6 on the year.

Gould added four goals for the Wildcats, adding an assist for a five-point day. Nugent added five points thanks to a hat trick and two assists. Senior goalie Emma Glyman made eight saves for Johnson & Wales in the loss.

The Saints season continues with a trip to the NCAA Tournament. Emmanuel will find out their opponent on Monday, May 5, at 10:30 a.m. with the NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse Selection Show, exclusively on NCAA.com.

2025 Women's Lacrosse GNAC All-Tournament Team
Norwich: Quinn Mustone, Breanna Ricker
Saint Joseph's (ME): Shauna Clark, Morgan Wright
Johnson & Wales: Neely Connor, Kelsey Higgins, Fara Holland
Emmanuel: Rachel Canedy, Dejaliyah Srimouksavanh, Isabella Thomas, Madeline Wright, Delaney Brown (GNAC Tournament MVP)

ABOUT THE GREAT NORTHEAST ATHLETIC CONFERENCE

The Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is an NCAA Division III association made up of 16 member institutions and over 4000 student-athletes across the New England region. Founded in 1995, the GNAC annually sponsors and administers 20 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunity and community involvement in an effort to enhance the student-athlete experience.

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