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WHEELING, W.Va. – Wheeling Jesuit downed Shepherd for the 2017 Mountain East Conference Women’s Lacrosse Tournament championship, 14-8, on Sunday afternoon at Bishop Schmitt Field. The Cardinals avenged last season’s loss to the Rams to claim their first-ever tournament title in the sport.
 
Kori Hickman, the Tournament MVP, had a role in nine of WJU’s 14 goals in the championship scoring once and assisting on eight others. Paige Plesich scored four goals and Lyndsay Carpenter had three. Brianna Wahle forced four turnovers and had seven ground balls in the game.
 
Sarah Wendt had three goals and Haley Price added two more for Shepherd in the loss.
 
WJU grabbed the early lead with a pair of scores, but Shepherd responded with three of their own to take the lead. The Cardinals seized control of the game scoring seven of the game’s next nine goals to take a 9-5 lead into the half.
 
Shepherd won the opening draw in the second half, but couldn’t convert on offense. Wheeling Jesuit scored the next two goals in the game to move ahead 11-5. Wendt found the back of the net for Shepherd to cut the deficit to five with still 19 minutes left, but neither team would score for the next 10 minutes, and it was Hales for WJU that pushed it back to a six-goal game.
 
The Rams got to within 12-8 with 5:47 left after a Brooke Hunley goal and got the ball after Wheeling Jesuit won the draw, but turned the ball over. The Cardinals put the game away with a score from Plesich and a free-position shot from Markie Wright within :20 seconds of each other to put the game away.

2017 All-Tournament Team
Kim Lubic (WVWC)
Rachel Cole (WISE)
Brooke Hunley (SU)
Courtney Schwiegerath (SU)
Casey Hickman (SU)
Mary Burns (WJU)
Brianna Wahle (WJU)
Elizabeth Hales (WJU)
MVP -- Kori Hickman (WJU)