No. 3 Women's Lacrosse Defeats No. 4 Essex to Advance to Region XX Championship

COLUMBIA, MD – The No. 3 Anne Arundel Community College women's lacrosse team advanced to the NJCAA Region XX championship for the third year in a row after defeating No. 4 CCBC Essex, 22-15, on Wednesday at Howard Community College. Jordan Snyder led the Riverhawks with a career-high 10 points on eight goals and two assists.

Snyder scored three of her goals on free position shots, leading the Riverhawks' 7-of-10 effort. AACC (9-3) held Essex to 2-of-6 in free position shots.

Jessica Grusholt added four goals and an assist, Mariah Scott scored three goals, while Natalie Sonntag and Lacey Hinkle each had two goals and an assist. Page Hamelryck got in on the action with a goal and an assist.

Sonntag posted a career-high 19 draw controls to extend her nation-leading total to 120. Her total is the NJCAA's highest single-season mark since 2016. AACC held a 29-10 advantage in draws in the game.

The Knights (6-5) put a scare into the Riverhawks, scoring less than two minutes into the game. The Riverhawks answered back with a pair from Bridgette Tayman and Hinkle, and never traded the lead.

Essex tied the game at 3-3 with goals 11 seconds apart, and then AACC responded with two to take a 5-3 lead. A yellow card on the Riverhawks led to another Essex tally, but AACC took charge from there, never letting the Knights get within three.

A three-goal run closed the first half, including Sonntag scoring off the draw with under a minute to play, to send the Riverhawks into halftime with a 14-9 advantage.

Grusholt opened the second half with a free position strike as AACC scored four of the first five goals of the frame. The teams traded goals throughout the stanza, but the Riverhawks held possession and controlled the pace for the entire half. Essex got the last score, a man-up goal 10 seconds into a Riverhawks yellow card with 2:38 left to play.

Sarah Healy made eight saves for AACC and caused two turnovers. Essex keeper Makenzi Cullings stopped 11 shots, posting eight first half saves.

AACC outshot Essex at a 43-29 clip. The Riverhawks uncharacteristically turned over the ball 19 times, and cleared at an 18-for-22 rate.

AACC will face top-ranked and defending region champion Harford (12-0) for the Region XX title on Saturday, May 11 in a 3 pm game at Howard.

Championship Information
No. 3 Anne Arundel vs No. 1 Harford
Saturday, May 11, 2019 at 3 pm
at Dragon Stadium, Howard Community College

Live Stats: http://aaccathletics.com/sports/wlax/2018-19/boxscores/20190511_x5w0.xml
Live Video: https://livestream.com/accounts/27226510/events/8675825