• Tournament Central
• Tournament Program

BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. -- Four teams will head to Wise, Va., to compete for the 2018 Mountain East Conference Women's Lacrosse Tournament title.

Play gets underway from Carl Smith Stadium on Friday, May 4, at noon, as No. 2 Wheeling Jesuit takes on No. 3 Shepherd. In the regular season matchup between Shepherd and Wheeling Jesuit, the Rams led 5-4 at the half, but the Cardinals scored the first four goals in the second half to rally past SU. Hayley Holmquist scored with just 1:35 left to put WJU up 9-7, and Shepherd's Sidney Kelly scored just over 30 seconds later to make it a one-goal game. The Rams were able to get the ensuing draw control, but a turnover with less than 15 seconds allowed Wheeling Jesuit to hold on. 

Top-seeded Uva-Wise is scheduled to battle fourth-seeded Charleston at 3 p.m. In the previous matchup against Charleston, UVa-Wise raced out to a 13-3 first half lead on its way to a 19-7 win. The Cavs also earned a 14-10 win over Wheeling Jesuit this year and rallied to defeat Shepherd, 11-10 in overtime, on the final day of the regular season to claim the MEC championship.

UVa-Wise
The Cavaliers went 12-4 in the regular season and went unbeaten in conference play to take the program's first regular season title in the sport. Kristin Gobbi leads the offense with 51 goals on the year, while McKayla Grasham has tallied 40 scores. Jesse French has 35 goals and 14 assists, and Sydney Steinberg has a team-best 27 assists on the year. In addition to 31 goals and 11 assists, Rachel Cole has a league-best 101 draw controls on the year -- 30 more than the next closest player in the league. 

Melanie Reilly headlines a defensive unit that hasn't allowed more than 10 goals in any of the last six games. In fact, the Cavs have allowed just 6.8 goals in conference games this season. Jess Apgar has contributed 33 caused turnovers and 67 ground balls, and Hannah Marshall has 35 caused turnovers and 39 ground balls. 

Wheeling Jesuit
Wheeling Jesuit, the winner of the last two MEC regular season titles and last year's MEC Tournament championship, finished the year with a 6-9 mark and a 4-1 record in conference play. The Cardinals have won each of their last four games and have piled up 19 goals in three of those contests. 

Kori Hickman leads the offense with 64 points on 29 goals and 35 assists. Hickman is the program's all-time leader in assists and is just the third player in school history to have over 200 career points. Hayley Holmquist has a team-high 44 goals and freshman Paige Orbell has 43 goals and is the team leader with 54 draw controls. 

Shepherd
Shepherd, the winners of the MEC Tournament in 2015 and 2016, comes into the tournament with a record of 7-6 overall and 3-2 in the MEC. The Rams have a knack for playing in close games this year with six contests being decided by three goals or less. Shepherd was on the winning end of 14-11 game against West Virginia Wesleyan and 12-11 win over Charleston, but were edged by one goal against both Wheeling Jesuit and UVa-Wise. 

Lillian Funke leads the conference in both goals per game (3.38) and caused turnovers (2.46) to lead SU. She also has 60 draw controls and 46 ground balls on the year. Freshman Regan Brown has 44 points (23 goals, 21 assists), and Sarah Wendt has added 31 goals. Goalie Casey Hickman has played every minute between the pipes for Shepherd. She has a league-best .513 save percentage and is averaging 10.92 saves per game. 

Charleston
The University of Charleston is making its first appearance in the MEC Tournament in school history. The Golden Eagles come into the weekend with an 8-8 overall record and a 2-3 mark in the league. UC punched its ticket to the tournament on the final day of the regular season with a win over West Virginia Wesleyan. 

UC has four players with more than 20 goals this year lead by 47 from Aryanna Jones. Jones also has 14 assists for 61 points on the year, second-most in the conference. Samantha Youngman has 38 goals, Emma Renda has 37 and Esther Yi has scored 29. Kyra Tye has been solid in net for the Golden Eagles making a league-best 169 saves this year (10.56 per game).