YORK, PA – The York College women's lacrosse team used a huge fourth quarter to earn a 12-7 win over Stevenson University in the 2022 MAC Commonwealth Championship game on a cold and wet Saturday in York. The Spartans blanked Stevenson 6-0 in the decisive fourth period.
The title is the Spartans' second all-time conference title and is their first MAC Commonwealth title. The win earns the Spartans the Commonwealth's automatic bid to next week's NCAA Division III national championship tournament.
Spartan junior Kiersten Blanchard was named the tournament MVP as she scored seven goals, seven draw controls, three ground balls and a pair of caused turnovers in the win.
 
2022 MAC Commonwealth Women's Lacrosse Championship
Records: #12 York 14-5; Stevenson 12-7
Final Score: #12 York 12, Stevenson 7
 
How It Happened
• The Mustangs kicked off the scoring early as LanLe Crotty scored on a top shelf shot just 43 seconds into the game to put the guests up 1-0. Stevenson made it 2-0 on a Caroline Murphy tally at the 9:10 mark. Kiersten Blanchard won the ensuing draw and raced down the field and found the back of the net for York's first goal of the day.
• Blanchard won another draw and the Spartans scored on the possession as Gianna Huet tied the game with her 14^th goal of the year at the 7:47 mark. Crotty found the back of the net on a harsh angle shot with 5:02 left in the first but York won the draw and tied the game on a Chloe MacDonald tally 41 seconds later. York out-shot Stevenson 12-8 and held a 5-2 edge in draw controls in the opening 15 minutes of play.
• The second quarter pace slowed as there was no scoring in the opening five minutes of the period. The Mustangs to back-to-back goals from McKenna Blick as York trailed by two with just over five minutes left before the half. Blanchard recorded her second goal of the game with 3:42 remaining in the half to cut the Mustang lead to 5-4. Senior Jenna Cholowinski tied the game 1:25 before the half as the teams headed to the break tied at five.
• The Spartans took their first lead of the game four minutes into the second half as Blanchard converted a free position opportunity for the 6-5 Spartan lead. The Mustangs held the Spartans scoreless the rest of the half while they scored a pair of goals inside the final 6:30 to carry a 7-6 lead to the final period. Mustang goalies had six saves in the quarter including a pair from back up goalie Caitlyn Lane after starter Sophie Shucosky was carded for throwing her stick at a shot as she was caught out of goal on a Spartan breakaway opportunity.
• The fourth quarter was all Spartans as Riley Roder took a feed from Blanchard and tied the game at seven just 1:45 into the period. Blanchard put the Spartans up for good on a free position goal at the 8:35 mark. Roder found the back of the net 51 seconds later to give York some breathing room. Blanchard then put the Spartans on her back and closed out the game with three straight tallies in the final 5:19 to give York the 12-7 victory.
• York dominated the fourth quarter statistics as they out-shot the Mustangs 10-1 and also held a 6-1 bulge in draw controls.
 
Spartan Leaders
Kiersten Blanchard: 7 points, 1 assist, 8 points, 7 draw controls, 3 ground balls, 2 caused turnovers, 2-for-2 FPG
Riley Roder: 2 goals, 2 ground balls
Emmy Bryden: 2 ground balls, 5 draw controls, 3 caused turnovers
Chloe MacDonald: 1 goal, 1 assist, 2 points, 1 ground ball, 3 draw controls, 1 caused turnover
 
Spartan Goalies
Bella Garabo: 60:00 minutes, 7 goals against, 2 saves
 
Spartan Notes
The Spartans improve to 7-4 all-time against the Mustangs as York has won five straight in the series … York improves to 15-14 all-time in conference tournament play … the championship is the second in program history as the Spartans last won a conference tournament championship in 2019 when they won the Capital Athletic Conference championship at Salisbury … York improves to 2-6 all-time in conference championship contests … York is 1-1 in MAC Commonwealth championship games … York will make their nine NCAA Tournament appearance and first since 2019 … the Spartans have won five straight and ten of their last 11 with their lone loss being a one goal loss on the road at #3 Salisbury … York has won a school-record 14 straight games against conference opponents … York is now 18-2 against MAC Commonwealth schools since joining the league in 2021 … York has outscored their 19 opponents 68-33 in the fourth quarter this year … York has converted 45.6% of their 125 free position shots for the year … the Spartans rank 23^rd in the nation in draw controls at 16.8 per game … junior Kiersten Blanchard had a fantastic game en route to earning the tournament MVP … Blanchard broke the single-season record for free position goals as she notched a pair to raise her season total to 17, breaking former Spartan great Leah Schultz's record of 16 set in 2011 … Blanchard also set a new career high in points (8) and goals (7) … Blanchard also had seven draws as she now has 34 draws in her last four games … Blanchard's seven goals ties her for third on the single game list with six other Spartans … Regan Cook was the last player to accomplish the milestone on March 4, 2020 at nationally ranked Denison … Blanchard has scored at least one goal in every game this year while she has three goals or more in eight games …. junior defender Emmy Bryden collected five draw controls in the win … the five draws are her second highest total of her season after she had seven against Hood on April 13 … Bryden has ten draws in her last three games … Bryden tied her season high with three caused turnovers … York has outscored their Commonwealth opponents 176-58 in their ten contests for the year.
 
Up Next
The Spartans will find out their NCAA Tournament opponent on Monday when the field is revealed by the NCAA. Please tune in to www.NCAA.com at 10:30 am to find out who and where the Spartans are playing in the 2022 NCAA Division III tournament. The first round begins on Saturday, May 14.