The 2025 Mountain East Conference Championship game is set. On Thursday, top-seeded Frostburg State and third-seeded Dominican University of California advanced in MEC tournament play. The teams will meet this Sunday at 1 p.m., on the campus of Frostburg State University.
Courtesy of Frostburg State University Sports Information
FROSTBURG, Md. – The Frostburg State Women's Lacrosse team pushed through a rain delay to take an early-called 17-1 victory over Wheeling in just three quarters on Thursday evening in the MEC Semifinals.
Prior to the game, the MEC recognized Frostburg's six All-MEC First Team members, graduate Camden DeMaio, seniors Kerri Hayes and Delaney Devers, and juniors Neila Haney, Jessie Bare, and Izzy Kelly. The Bobcats had five other players sprinkled throughout the rest of the All-Conference teams, as the major MEC Postseason Awards will be announced after the conclusion of the tournament.
Kicking off their 2025 playoff campaign, Frostburg started off strong getting their first tally of the game just over 30 seconds in when, senior Julia Badolato fed junior Sydney Stone for the first strike of the game. Devers coughed up a turnover from Wheeling on their first possession, as Stone kept the CT action going for FSU on the defensive end. Stone's first shot of the game hit the post, as the Cardinals hit the top of the goal as well on their first look. Senior Grace Dickey recorded her first save of the day on WU's next shot, with Stone seeing another caused turnover. After four minutes, the Bobcats offense started to open up, with Badolato feeding both Haney and DeMaio for Frostburg's next two goals and a 3-0 game. DeMaio knotted another goal for FSU after Hayes caused a turnover from Wheeling, as Dickey and Kelly recorded stats on the defensive end. With their defense soaring, Badolato scored her first goal of the day off a feed from sophomore Abbey Warner, with senior Natalie Williams dishing to Haney for a 6-0 game. Juniors Daniella Boss and Emily Lamoreaux recorded back-to-back goals for the Bobcats, as Haney saw one more tally to end the quarter with FSU up 9-0.
Williams ripped the first shot of the second, trying to keep the energy going for Frostburg, as freshman Kamryn Lee earned a CT on Wheeling's offensive attempt down at the other end. On FSU's next look at offense, Williams passed to Haney for another strike to hit the 10-goal mark for Frostburg. Stone was credited with another caused turnover, setting up a Haney to DeMaio connection for an 11-0 score. Both teams swapped blocked shots on their next tries, with Bare moving for a CT as well. Wheeling and Frostburg traded shots as time went on, neither being able to find the back of the net. WU sent in two shots that were just off the mark, both catching the crossbar. The Bobcats defense worked to block the Cardinals' next attempt, as Dickey picked up another save, both until Wheeling was able to sneak one by at the 5:24 mark to get on the board. Lamoreaux responded with a goal of her own off a free position shot to answer before the break, putting the score at 12-1 at the half.
FSU quickly scooped up the draw control to start the third, as Badolato soared one in right away to increase the Bobcats' lead. Senior Megan Keller got in on the defensive action, earning herself a caused turnover, setting up DeMaio on the other end for another strike to move the game to 14-1. Dickey stood in the way of WU's next shot, adding another save to her total, as on FSU's third shot of their possession, Haney was given an assist off a goal from Boss. Keller collected another CT and ground ball on the defensive end, again helping Frostburg set up their offense, allowing Haney to make her way down field for a shot at net to advance the game to 16-1. The Bobcats again let their defense lead to offense, with a caused turnover from Kelly guiding to a Badolato feed to DeMaio to put the score at 17-1. Bare and Kelly each added a CT to their stat total to end the third, leaving the score at 17-1 heading into the fourth.
Both teams sent in a shot in the first minute of the fourth, but after dealing with rain for most of the game, the contest was called at the 13:29 mark of the quarter due to lighting, leaving the final score at 17-1, allowing Frostburg to advance to the MEC Championship game.
Haney and DeMaio each finished with five goals on the evening, with the former seeing two assists and the latter dishing out one. Badolato, Lamoreaux, and Boss all finished with a pair of strikes, with Badolato putting out a team-high five assists. Kelly led the defensive effort with a team-high in both caused turnovers (4) and ground balls (3), while Stone and Keller were next with a trio of CT's. Dickey finished with four saves in goal.
With the win, Frostburg improves to 12-6 on the season, while Wheeling finishes 7-8. The Bobcats advance to their fifth straight MEC Championship game, where they look to defend their crown once again on their home field, this time against the No. 3 seed of Dominican (CA) on Sunday, May 4 at 1 PM. For more information and updates, please visit frostburgsports.com.
Courtesy of University of Dominican of California Sports Information
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Dominican women's lacrosse are headed to the MEC championship in their first full season of being an NCAA DII program after defeating the Golden Eagles from University of Charleston 12-8 in the MEC semifinals Thursday afternoon. Brooke Vafi, Olivia Johnson, Elke Moerkeseth, and Natalie Oyler were honored before the game with their First-Team All-MEC awards.
After being off a full month, the Pengs wasted no time getting things started as they jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead in the first quarter. Kyra Evans, who was selected to the All-MEC Freshman Team, called her own number two minutes into the game and sent one past the goalie for the early lead. On the next offensive possession, Vafi the senior leader, took a nice dish from Newkirk and sent one to the back of the net to give the Pengs the 2-0 lead.
Speaking of Newkirk, the junior out of San Diego ended the first quarter with a missile past the Golden Eagles defense off a nice pass from Vafi. She would then open the scoring in the second quarter by juking out multiple defenders giving Dominican a 6-0 lead.
"It was great to see how we came out to begin the game, my teammates and I did a great job of communicating early and it was good to jump on them first," Newkirk said. "Our defense did an amazing job today which really allowed our offense to open up."
That defense came up clutch today to secure the victory for the Penguins. Midway through the second quarter the Golden Eagles would go on a 3-0 run to bite into the Dominican lead. The Pengs would regroup and get situated on the back end with Olivia Johnson leading the charge forcing four caused turnovers to go along with a couple ground balls. Freshman Sienna Prak-Perry lead the team with four ground balls.
Oyler, the junior out of Idaho, was a menace in the cage for the Pengs as she made life tough all day for the Golden Eagles. She came down with eight saves on the day and was the anchor on the back line down the stretch.
"Our training the last couple of weeks made us prepared for this game, we really emphasized pressure on the ball and we executed that," Oyler said. "It was awesome to see that spark we started the game with and then our defense picked up as the game went along to close it out."
Halfway through the fourth quarter is where things got a little close for the Penguins. After a Golden Eagles goal in the five-minute mark trimmed the lead down to two, Dominican called a timeout to collect themselves. The Pengs came out of that timeout calm and collected, and each one of them had the look of confidence.
The possession after that timeout it all started with a crucial draw control win by junior Macie Wood who had a great first step which led to her initiating the offense. As Dominican brought the ball down the field it ended up with Newkirk who knew all too well what to do with it. She got to her spot, and it was over after that as she fired one past the goalie for the 11-8 lead with four minutes left. Vafi would put the game one ice as she called her own number and found the back of the net with a minute left.
"It feels so surreal playing for the championship on Sunday, I came into this game just thinking this could be my last game, so I wanted to give it my all today," Wood said. "I'm really proud of this program and how much we've developed since my freshman year, I can't wait for Sunday."