By Matt Koll
Will there be a three-peat? Or will a new champion rise up? That’s the intrigue as the PAC women’s lacrosse tournament begins. Let’s look at what the field has to offer for tonight’s PAC semifinals.
No. 1 WASHINGTON & JEFFERSON (13-3, 9-0 PAC)
“We enter the PAC tournament with a seasoned roster that has experienced postseason success, and our goal as a team is always to be playing at our highest level in May.” That statement from head coach Alison Valerio is a pretty good summation of how the Presidents are approaching things heading into the PAC Tournament. But she continued.
“We recognize our regular season success has put us in a great position as the top seed in the tournament, but that nothing is guaranteed once we begin playoffs. Our team is entering this week with the mindset that we must earn every win, and that we must properly prepare for each opponent in order to compete well.”
It was nothing but dominance from W&J in PAC play this season, as their tightest win was still by seven goals. The President led the conference in goals, assists and points per game as well as shot percentage.
It’s hard to find a flaw in this team and on top of that, Valerio thinks there are a few players that are just now hitting their peaks for the season as the playoffs begin.
So, how does this team compare to the previous two that won championships?
“As with our previous championship teams, this team has shown a competitive drive all season long,” said Valerio. “This is a veteran group, led by the most accomplished senior class in program history, who have learned from talented former players throughout their careers. We have high hopes for our remaining season and hope to continue on the tradition of recent success.”
Next game: Thursday at 7 pm vs. No. 5 Grove City
No. 2 ALLEGHENY (13-4, 8-1 PAC)
Allegheny’s story is much like W&J’s, in that outside of a matchup against the Presidents it’s been total domination within the PAC. Their closest margin of victory was 10 goals in games not played against the #1 seed.
The Gators pepper their opponents with over 32 shots per game and own the second best shooting percentage in the conference. Senna Perelman ranks in the top 5 in goals, assists and points per game, becoming an offensive force. Lauren Petrarca is right behind in goal production as well.
But beyond the flashy numbers, Allegheny head coach Patricia Pehnke believes that the position her team is in going into the playoffs is much more layered than that.
“Senna Perelman just goes out there and plays lacrosse, she knows how good she is but she doesn’t let that affect her. She doesn’t settle for being just okay, she goes for something greater. To be honest we haven’t just relied on just one person all season, we relied on everyone. Stats wise Senna is the best player but we are a team of 17 great players, we haven’t just relied on only one person to step up and score. There are multiple games where multiple girls put up points, and one player doesn’t make or break the team. If you are going to win a championship you have to rely on the whole team, not just one player.”
Pehnke has confidence this team has what it takes to dethrone the 2x defending champs.
“Absolutely we have what it takes to win, I tell the girls all the time I am their #1 fan and that I believe in them when they might not believe in themselves,” she said. Every loss we have had we learned from and it made us a better team. We just need to continue what we have been doing all year and play Allegheny lacrosse.”
Next game: Thursday at 4 pm vs. No. 3 Franciscan
#3 FRANCISCAN (7-6, 6-3 PAC)
Franciscan survived a major scare in the quarterfinal round when they found themselves down by four with five minutes left in the 3rd quarter. But the Barons rallied to score five unanswered goals and hang on to beat the pesky 6 seeded Saint Vincent. Carolyn Cooke scored her third goal and sixth point of the game with four minutes left to seal the victory and cap off a marvelous performance. The quarterfinal was the second one-goal game these two had played to this season.
Franciscan finished the regular season ranked second in shots percentage, making the most of their opportunities. In their matchup with Allegheny on April 29, the game got away from them and they faltered 15-5. They’ll be looking to avenge that loss and ride the momentum of a thrilling win when they see the Gators on Thursday.
Next game: Thursday at 4 pm @ No. 2 Allegheny
No. 5 GROVE CITY (7-10, 5-4 PAC)
Earlier this season, the Wolverines lost 14-10 to No. 4 Chatham. When it matters most on Tuesday, Grove City got the best of them for a six-goal win to move into the semifinal round.
Grove City outscored Chatham 7-2 in the third period, including a stretch of six straight goals to pull away. If Grove City hopes to hang in there against W&J, they’ll need another monster performance from the likes of Madison Nazigian who scored six goals against Chatham and Mara Polczynski who tallied six points. Nazigian has been a force all season, ranking third in the PAC in goals and shots per game and sixth in points per game.
Grove City fell 20-9 to Washington & Jefferson when those two teams last met on April 29.
Next game: Thursday at 7pm @ No. 1 W&J
