Saturday, May 7
1 p.m.
Central Michigan University
12-7
20
vs
10
Robert Morris
9-8
1
2
3
4
F
Robert Morris
2
5
1
2
10
Central Michigan
3
4
8
5
20
Photo by: Jack Reeber '23,M'25 - @jackreeber.raw
Lacrosse Rides Second-Half Surge To MAC Tournament Title
5/7/2022 8:20:00 PM | Lacrosse
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Seven years in the making. Thirty minutes of dominance.
And the Mid-American Conference Tournament lacrosse championship is theirs.
Central Michigan outscored Robert Morris, 13-3, in the second half on Saturday to win the MAC Tourney championship game, 20-10, at the CMU Lacrosse/Soccer Complex and claim the league's NCAA Tournament berth.
"We've had our sights on this for a long time," said Sara Tisdale, the only coach in the seven-year history of CMU lacrosse who built the program from the ground up. "This is what this is all about. We want to make sure that we are the MAC champions, we want to go represent the MAC in the NCAA Tournament, and we're going dancing."
It was the first ever MAC Tournament after the conference began sponsoring women's lacrosse in 2021. Robert Morris won the crown a year ago when there was no league tournament.
CMU, Robert Morris and Youngstown State shared the regular season crown in 2022, but there was no question as to which program reigned supreme on Saturday.
"Every goal we made, we just kept saying, let's keep our foot on the gas pedal," CMU senior Brennan Paddy said. "We did not want to let up. Robert Morris is an amazing team.
"We were just feeding off of each other. We saw that open net, and everybody was working together on offense. We can't do it without each other."
The Chippewas (12-7) will learn their first-round NCAA Tournament opponent and destination on Sunday night during the tourney selection show. And while they'll look ahead to that, they can look back now on a program that launched in 2016 and all the labor and dreams that culminated in Saturday's win.
"You saw how hard they worked, the speed and the intensity and focus they played with today, I couldn't ask for anything more," said Tisdale, who guided the Chippewas to the 2019 Southern Conference regular season title.
Said Paddy: "It's amazing. It really is. Immediately when that buzzer went off, we were all just crying and the seniors were like, this is our last time on this field and it's bittersweet for sure."
Paddy, Kelly Hoyt and Kendall Hoyt scored five goals apiece, while Maggie Diebold added four. CMU's Audrey Whiteside, the MAC Offensive Player of the Year, finished with four assists after drawing much of the attention from the RMU defense, which had allowed the fewest number of goals among MAC teams during the regular season.
CMU trailed, 7-5, with six minutes remaining in the first half. Diebold and Paddy scored to tie it, 7-7, before the break. And then Paddy scored the first two goals of the second half to make it 9-7, swinging momentum firmly to the Chippewas.
CMU outscored the Colonials, 8-1, in the third quarter as part of an 11-1 spurt that gave them complete control.
Paddy's five-goal performance tied her career high.
"I think when you see Brennan lead her team in this way, it's so impressive," Tisdale said. "It's all over her body, it's all over her face. She owns and commands the field on both sides of the ball. And once I saw her kick into gear, I knew we were not going to lose this game. I'm extremely proud of all of them. They played so well together."
Tisdale was at a loss to explain the verbal impetus for her team's second-half surge.
"Here's the difference in our halftimes: It's all about them, it's all the seniors," she said. "And Hannah Potter is our fifth-year and we made a couple of quick adjustments and then I walked out. I've never walked out of the locker room that early and I said, 'This is all you.'
"So I honestly don't know what was said at halftime. But what I promise you is our seniors were not leaving this field with a loss."
Chippewa goalie Erin Owens tied her career high with 16 saves – two shy of the program record – in outperforming RMU's Jamie Keller, who earlier in the week was named the MAC Goalie of the Year.
"Erin Owens was amazing," Tisdale said. "Erin really stood on her head, put this team on her shoulders, she made some promises early on to her teammates who have been medically disqualified, 'I'm going to get you that ring,' and that's exactly what she did today."
Potter earned the tournament Most Valuable Player Award and was named to the all-tournament team along with Kelly Hoyt, Paddy, Owens and Courtney Burke.
And the Mid-American Conference Tournament lacrosse championship is theirs.
Central Michigan outscored Robert Morris, 13-3, in the second half on Saturday to win the MAC Tourney championship game, 20-10, at the CMU Lacrosse/Soccer Complex and claim the league's NCAA Tournament berth.
"We've had our sights on this for a long time," said Sara Tisdale, the only coach in the seven-year history of CMU lacrosse who built the program from the ground up. "This is what this is all about. We want to make sure that we are the MAC champions, we want to go represent the MAC in the NCAA Tournament, and we're going dancing."
It was the first ever MAC Tournament after the conference began sponsoring women's lacrosse in 2021. Robert Morris won the crown a year ago when there was no league tournament.
CMU, Robert Morris and Youngstown State shared the regular season crown in 2022, but there was no question as to which program reigned supreme on Saturday.
"Every goal we made, we just kept saying, let's keep our foot on the gas pedal," CMU senior Brennan Paddy said. "We did not want to let up. Robert Morris is an amazing team.
"We were just feeding off of each other. We saw that open net, and everybody was working together on offense. We can't do it without each other."
The Chippewas (12-7) will learn their first-round NCAA Tournament opponent and destination on Sunday night during the tourney selection show. And while they'll look ahead to that, they can look back now on a program that launched in 2016 and all the labor and dreams that culminated in Saturday's win.
"You saw how hard they worked, the speed and the intensity and focus they played with today, I couldn't ask for anything more," said Tisdale, who guided the Chippewas to the 2019 Southern Conference regular season title.
Said Paddy: "It's amazing. It really is. Immediately when that buzzer went off, we were all just crying and the seniors were like, this is our last time on this field and it's bittersweet for sure."
Paddy, Kelly Hoyt and Kendall Hoyt scored five goals apiece, while Maggie Diebold added four. CMU's Audrey Whiteside, the MAC Offensive Player of the Year, finished with four assists after drawing much of the attention from the RMU defense, which had allowed the fewest number of goals among MAC teams during the regular season.
CMU trailed, 7-5, with six minutes remaining in the first half. Diebold and Paddy scored to tie it, 7-7, before the break. And then Paddy scored the first two goals of the second half to make it 9-7, swinging momentum firmly to the Chippewas.
CMU outscored the Colonials, 8-1, in the third quarter as part of an 11-1 spurt that gave them complete control.
Paddy's five-goal performance tied her career high.
"I think when you see Brennan lead her team in this way, it's so impressive," Tisdale said. "It's all over her body, it's all over her face. She owns and commands the field on both sides of the ball. And once I saw her kick into gear, I knew we were not going to lose this game. I'm extremely proud of all of them. They played so well together."
Tisdale was at a loss to explain the verbal impetus for her team's second-half surge.
"Here's the difference in our halftimes: It's all about them, it's all the seniors," she said. "And Hannah Potter is our fifth-year and we made a couple of quick adjustments and then I walked out. I've never walked out of the locker room that early and I said, 'This is all you.'
"So I honestly don't know what was said at halftime. But what I promise you is our seniors were not leaving this field with a loss."
Chippewa goalie Erin Owens tied her career high with 16 saves – two shy of the program record – in outperforming RMU's Jamie Keller, who earlier in the week was named the MAC Goalie of the Year.
"Erin Owens was amazing," Tisdale said. "Erin really stood on her head, put this team on her shoulders, she made some promises early on to her teammates who have been medically disqualified, 'I'm going to get you that ring,' and that's exactly what she did today."
Potter earned the tournament Most Valuable Player Award and was named to the all-tournament team along with Kelly Hoyt, Paddy, Owens and Courtney Burke.
Team Stats
RMU
CMU
Shots
30
40
Turnovers
12
9
Caused Turnovers
2
5
Draw Controls
19
15
Free-Position Shots
5
6
Ground Balls
10
16
Game Leaders
Players
G
5
A
0
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
2
CT
1
G
5
A
1
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
1
CT
0
G
5
A
2
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
0
CT
0
G
4
A
0
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
1
CT
1
Players Mentioned
A
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