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South Easton, Mass. – The University of New Haven defeated Southern New Hampshire University, 12-7, at DellaCamera Stadium Sunday afternoon to claim the team’s first-ever Northeast-10 Women’s Lacrosse Championship.

Ashley Ferrandiz (West Sayville, N.Y.) gave the Chargers an early 2-0 lead with an unassisted goal in the fifth minute of action, however Southern New Hampshire would respond with two goals in the ninth minute from Libby Parent (Hinesburg, Vt.) to tie the game at 2-2.

New Haven regained the lead midway through the half after Brianna Kenworthy (Holden, Mass.) scored a free position goal. With the score 4-3 in New Haven’s favor, the Chargers scored three unanswered goals to close out the first half and took a 7-3 lead heading into halftime.

In the second half, the Chargers received three goals in a one minute span from Sarah Magnone (Yardley, Pa.), Brigid Brady (Islip, N.Y.) and Kenworthy to increase the lead to 10-3. The Penmen halted the 6-0 run by New Haven when Maura Murphy (Candia, N.H.) scored back-to-back goals to cut the lead to 10-5.

New Haven responded when Mallory Ferrandiz (West Sayville, N.Y.), the championship’s most outstanding player, scored her 41st goal of the year off a free position shot to push the Charger lead to 11-5. Southern New Hampshire would tack on two more goals from Parent and Murphy to cut the lead to 11-7 with just over 12 minutes to play, however the Chargers defense kept the Penmen scoreless the rest of the way to seal the 12-7 victory.

Brady led New Haven with four goals and was named to the All-Championship team for her efforts along with Ashley Ferrandiz who finished with two goals.

Southern New Hampshire’s Murphy and Julie Kraus (Derry, N.H.) also were named to the All-Championship as well. Also named to the All-Championship team were Bentley’s Alyssa Ritchie, Franklin Pierce’s Jordan Baillargeon, Merrimack’s Lauren Leddy and Stonehill’s Justine Ferland.

With the win, New Haven improves to 16-3, while Southern New Hampshire is now 13-5. Both teams will find out later tonight if their seasons will continue as the NCAA will be announcing this year’s championship field. The tournament brackets will be released tonight between 10 and 11 p.m.

With 15 member institutions the Northeast-10 is the second largest NCAA Division II athletic conference in the nation. Its 23 championship sports provide athletic opportunities for over 5,500 student-athletes, the largest such program of any Division II conference.

- NE-10 -

Northeast-10 Women's Lacrosse All-Championship Team

Alyssa Ritchie - Bentley
Jordan Baillargeon - Franklin Pierce
Lauren Leddy - Merrimack
Brigid Brady - New Haven
Ashley Ferrandiz - New Haven
Mallory Ferrandiz - New Haven
Julie Kraus - Southern New Hampshire
Maura Murphy - Southern New Hampshire
Justine Ferland - Stonehill
MVP: Mallory Ferrandiz, New Haven