#1 Women’s Lax Repeats as Skyline Champion

Written by Andrew Capitelli (SJC-LI Sports Information)

Patchogue, NY| Behind four goals from senior Heather Ferchland, the St. Joseph's College (L.I.) women's lacrosse team defeated Farmingdale State College 12-9 to win its second consecutive Skyline Conference title at home on Saturday afternoon. With the win, the Golden Eagles (13-4, 7-0) earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament, which is set to begin next weekend.

Farmingdale would tally the game's first goal at 26:29 and held third additional one-goal leads in the half, but a pair of goals from Ferchland (5:10) and Tricia Barrett (5:01) edged the hosts in front.

Jenna Kelleher (2:06) and Barrett's (1:26) marks would offset a pair of FSC tallies in the closing moments of the first half to ensure SJC took a 7-6 lead into the break.

Three consecutive tallies from Kelleher (27:08), Ferchland (26:00) and Nicole Stoppelli (20:14) widened the gap and gave St. Joseph's a comfortable four-goal edge (10-6), but scores by FSC's Mia Johnson and Brittany Rosino cut the deficit in half (10-8) with 13:42 to play.

Ferchland and Stoppelli would find the back of the net at 13:01 and 12:14 before Farmingdale's Samantha Morra wrapped the scoring at 10:34. From there out, the Golden Eagles dominated possession and cruised to the 12-9 victory, earning them their second championship in the program's five-year existence.

In addition to Ferchland's four goals on seven shots, the midfielder claimed five draw controls and scooped up three ground balls. Tournament MVP Jessica Cordano tallied one goal and dished out three assists. The midfielder's 44 assists are tops in the conference and tied for 13th in the nation.

SJC keeper Lindsay Ramos made five saves and picked up her 13th win of the season.

The Golden Eagles will learn their NCAA Tournament fate on Sunday night during the women's lacrosse selection show. Live video for the show will be available here.