NAIA National Tournament Semifinal
Score: No. 1 Keiser Seahawks 14, No. 5 Cumberlands Patriots 15
Records: No. 1 Keiser (16-2), No. 5 Cumberlands (17-3)
Location: Memorial Stadium - Savannah, Ga.
The championship run for No. 1 Keiser women's lacrosse came to an end on Thursday afternoon in a one-goal loss to the No. 5 Cumberlands Patriots in the NAIA National Tournament Semifinals. The final goal of the game came from Koral Hadac with 2:32 on the clock. The Seahawks would get a pair of chances on the other end but would not be able to convert. Keiser was led by
Jia Schweigert who ended the game with six goals and an assist. The Seahawks had eight different goal scorers on the day and six different players credited with an assist.
Keiser 3, UC 2
- Just over two minutes in, Peyton Tomlinson drove through the heart of the defense and blasted a shot into the back of the net
- The Patriots would score twice in the sixth minute to take the lead in the contest
- With 7:53 showing, Emily McCall tied the game at 2-2
- Less than a minute later, Milena Isturiz would convert a free position shot to put Keiser in front 3-2
- With 2:11 on the clock, Cassidy Green came up big on a free position shot to keep the Seahawks in front going into the second
UC 7, Keiser 6
- The Patriots tied the game just 30 seconds into the second quarter as Emma Rittman scored her first of the day
- Emily McCall found MacKenzie Gibaud on the other end who drove down the middle of the zone and fired in a goal to make it 4-3 with 10:39 on the clock
- Nine seconds after Cumberlands scored again, Peyton Tomlinson won the draw and found Isabelle Vrensen who put Keiser back in front, 5-4
- Schweigert would add another with a crease roll into a side-arm shot to give Keiser a 6-4 lead with 8:32 on the clock
- UC would have an answer on the other end of the field as Aleyah Belton cut the lead to one
- The Patriots would score two more before the end of the half to take the 7-6 lead
UC 11, Keiser 9
- Rittman would finish her hat trick for the Patriots two minutes into the third as UC took a two-goal lead
- Schweigert would have an immediate answer on the ensuing possession with a cut across the face of the net to make it 8-7
- With 11:14 on the clock, Isturiz would find the back of the net but be carded for an illegal stick as the goal was wiped from the board
- The Patriots would take advantage of the card with a goal 30 seconds later to make it 9-7
- Pressure on the UC back line credited a turnover to Schweigert who hit Vrensen for the easy goal with 9:12 remaining
- Rittman and Belton would each tally free position goals for Cumberlands as they extended their lead to 11-8 with 7:20 on the clock
- With just under five minutes left in the quarter, Hayley Frew drew a triple team before finding Samantha Esher wide open for the goal to make it 11-9
- Jordyn Payne had a chance with 2:57 showing, but her bouncing shot would go off the post and away from danger
UC 15, Keiser 14
- An early turnover in the midfield turned into a breakaway for Frew who would be denied on her first shot but convert her second shot to make it 11-10
- Schweigert would tie the game 25 seconds later off a pass from Isturiz as the momentum began to shift at Memorial Field
- 40 seconds later, it was Schweigert again finding the back of the net off a pass from Gibaud as Keiser took the lead back.
- With 9:23 left in the game, Cumberlands drew even following a turnover on Keiser's clear
- Tomlinson would win the ensuing draw control before Schweigert scored to put the Seahawks back in front, 13-12
- With 5:21 on the clock, Gibaud would find Esher who took a hit cutting from behind the net but still managed to score the goal that made it 14-12
- On the other side of the field, Rittman's shot would be denied, but she would pick it up and score her sixth goal of the game to cut into the lead
- Less than a minute later, the Patriots would tie the game at 14-14 with just over four minutes on the clock
- On the ensuing Cumberlands possession, the Patriots would convert with the shot clock showing zero to take the 15-14 lead
- Keiser would get two shots off on the offensive end, but both would be saved before the Patriots took back possession and ran the clock out
- Keiser finishes the season with a 16-2 overall record, tied for the most wins in a season in program history
- Schweigert ended the day with five goals, which brought her season total to 51
- She ends the year with the second-most points (70) and goals (51) in a season in program history
- Just behind her was Vrensen, who had two goals in the game and finished her first year with 68 points, which is the third-most all time
- Isturiz finished the game with four groundballs, which tied with Payne
- Isturiz's groundball total comes to 60 on the year, which is a new program record and is second all-time in career groundballs at 143
- She also totaled four caused turnovers in the game to bring her career total to 108, which is the most in program history
- Frew closes out her Keiser career all over the record books as she ranks fourth in points (141), third in goals (107), and second in draw controls (232), free position goals (24), and games played (72)
- The program leader for games played belongs to Sydney Parker, who played her 80th game for KU today
- In goal for Keiser, Cassidy Green wraps up her career with the second most wins (26) and saves (240) in program history
- As a team, the Seahawks broke the program record for points (540) and assists (195) this season
No. 1 Keiser
Points: Schweigert (6)
Goals: Schweigert (5)
Assists: Gibaud (1)
Draw Controls: Isturiz (9)
Ground Balls: Isturiz/Payne (4)
Caused Turnovers: Isturiz (4)
Saves: Green (4)
No. 5 Cumberlands
Points: Baker (7)
Goals: Rittman (6)
Assists: Baker (3)
Draw Controls: Rittman (6)
Ground Balls: Hadac (5)
Caused Turnovers: Hadac (3)
Saves: Bosah (20)
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