LOCK HAVEN, Pa. - The six-team field for the 2023 PSAC Women's Lacrosse Championship has been determined after the final weekend of the regular season. The tournament begins with a pair of quarterfinal matchups between No. 2 and No. 3 seeds on Tuesday evening at campus sites while the semifinals and finals are hosted by West Chester University on Friday and Sunday at Vonnie Gros field. The opening round matchup in the East features No. 3 East Stroudsburg traveling to No. 2 Kutztown while No. 2 IUP hosts No. 3 Mercyhurst in the West. No. 1 East seed West Chester hosts the winner of IUP/Mercyhurst on Friday while the other semifinal will find No. 1 West seed Seton Hill battling the East Stroudsburg/Kutztown winner.
Ticket Prices
Adults: $10; Students K-12: $5
Students with PSAC ID: Free | Pre-K: FREE
Both West Chester and Seton Hill finished the PSAC regular season with perfect 12-0 records in the respective divisions to claim the No. 1 overall seeds.
West Chester, from the East Division, is 17-0 overall and features talented attackers Hannah Stanislawczyk (who leads the PSAC in goals with 68), Linsay Monigle (tops in the conference in assists with 53 and points with 84), and Keri Barnett, who has launched the most amount of shots in the PSAC (134, 7.88 per game) and scored 64 goals. Jess Gorr has been excellent in front of goal and carries the lowest goals-against-average (6.70) in the conference.
The Seton Hill Griffins finished the regular season 14-3 overall and are led offensively by Skylar Orlowski (40 goals, 23 assists) and in goal by Kyleigh Hessian (an 8.53 goals-against-average.) Megan Bunker has also made critical contributions throughout the year, averaging 2.00 caused turnovers a game and tallying 127 total draw controls, the second-most in the entire conference.
The Kutztown Golden Bears made an incredible run to the tournament by defeating East Stroudsburg, their quarterfinal opponent and the 2022 PSAC Women's Lacrosse defending champion, in the regular season finale on Saturday, April 29, 16-14. Sam Graf (49 goals, 103 draw controls) and Lailah ElBouazzaoui (48 goals) spearhead the attack, while goalie Jenna Blesson has made 113 saves.
IUP (12-5 overall, 10-2 PSAC) claimed the No. 2 seed in the West.
Kathryn Burke is in the top 10 in the PSAC in points (32 goals, 19 assists) and the Crimson Hawks square off against Mercyhurst in the quarterfinals, which IUP swept in the regular season by scores of 12-6 and 14-12.
The East's No. 3 seed, East Stroudsburg, claimed the 2022 PSAC Women's Lacrosse Championship. The Warriors are 13-4 overall (9-3 PSAC) and feature midfielder Emily Mitarotonda, who has scored 66 goals (second-most in the conference) and assisted on 14 others for a total of 80 points, third-most in the league. Kiki Fitzpatrick has assisted on 31 goals (1.82 a game), good for fourth-most in the PSAC. Maggie Sell is also a defensive force, averaging 3.47 ground balls per game (second-most in the conference) and tied for a PSAC-leading 36 caused turnovers with teammate Mitarotonda. Riley DiFiore minds the goal for ESU and has made 176 saves (a percentage of .550) and carries a goals-against-average of 9.23 into the postseason.
Mercyhurst (8-8 overall, 6-6 PSAC) rounds out the tournament field as the West's No. 3 seed. Maggie Newton has scored 37 goals and notched 49 total points in 2023, both totals seventh-most in the conference. Goalie Paige Maneri has made 91 saves with a save percentage of .438.
