CHESTER, Pa. – The Arcadia University women's lacrosse team secured its first-ever postseason berth as a member of the Commonwealth Conference after claiming a 10-6 victory at Widener University Tuesday night. The Knights are in their first season in the Commonwealth Conference after winning the Freedom Conference title a year ago.
Arcadia will be seeded fourth in the upcoming Commonwealth Conference Championship Tournament, and will host a first round game Monday, April 27. The opponent and time for that game have yet to be determined. This will mark the third straight conference tournament appearance for the Knights, all under fifth-year head coach
Erin Livingston, and their sixth conference tournament appearance overall.
Sophomore
Erin Misner started the first of two three-goal runs in the first half that gave the Knights a 6-2 lead at the intermission. Five different players accounted for those six goals, with senior
Haylee Molloy scoring the go-ahead goal 10 minutes into the game and later capping the first half scoring with 26 seconds left in the frame off a feed from junior
Dawn Faranetta.
Molloy's two goals bring her career scoring total to 297 point, putting her just three away from becoming the first 300-point scorer in program history.
Misner found the back of the net three minutes into the second half with the eventual game-winner and give Arcadia what seemed to be a comfortable 7-2 lead, but the Pride didn't go away as they used a 4-1 run to pull back within two.
Lindsey Brust started the run just over a minute after Misner's tally, while Morgan Scott made it an 8-6 game with 11:04 remaining off a pass from Meghan Garvey, who accounted for both of Widener's first half goals.
That was as close as the Pride would get the rest of the way. Freshman
Nicole Hutson put in her second goal of the game off a feed from junior
Adeline Bellesheim with 7:23 to go, and Misner capped the scoring with her third goal of the contest with 2:51 left on the clock.
Faranetta had a game-high five points after scoring one goal and assisting on four others, while Misner had a four-point game with three goals and one assist. Junior
Jordyn Dunacusky totaled nine saves as she picked up the win in net, improving her record to 10-5 for the year.
Arcadia will close out the 2015 regular season at home Saturday, hosting a Commonwealth Conference match against first-place Messiah College, which is ranked 16th in this week's IWLCA Division III Coaches' Poll.
