CANTON, N.Y. – Maine Maritime women's lacrosse beat #2 seeded Cazenovia, 15-14 on Saturday afternoon in a NAC Semifinal matchup to advance to the NAC Championship tomorrow afternoon against #1 seeded SUNY Canton.

How it Happened: Maine Maritime jumped to a quick 2-0 lead when Olivia Harriman (Orrington, Maine) and Hazel Stoddard (Old Orchard Beach, Maine) each scored an unassisted goal. The Wildcats quickly answered with a goal, before Olivia Alejandro (Houston, Texas) scored her first career goal to make the score 3-1 in favor of the Mariners. Cazenovia scored another goal off a free position shot before the Mariners scored three consecutive goals from Stoddard, Lily Cook (Southwest, Harbor), and Stoddard again to extend the Mariners' lead to four at the end of the first quarter. The Wildcats struck first in the second quarter, scoring four unanswered goals to tie the game up at 6-6 with 6:32 left in the first half. The Mariners answered when Stoddard found Olivia Fay (Braintree, Mass.) for a goal, and Harriman and Stoddard scored off free position shots to regain the lead. Cazenovia ended the first half with a goal to make the score 9-7 in favor of the Mariners going into the half.

The Wildcats came out on fire in the third quarter, scoring three unanswered goals against the Mariners to take their first lead of the afternoon with a score of 10-9. Cazenovia started of the fourth quarter strong as well, scoring two more goals to extend their lead to three. The Mariners answered with four straight goals, three from Stoddard and one from Cook to regain the lead with a score of 14-13. The Wildcats scored again with four minutes left in the game to tie it back up, before Kirra Magaña (Miami, Fla.) scored off a free position shot to take back the lead. Cazenovia scored one more time, before Stoddard won a draw control and scored the game-winning goal to put the Mariners up by one and send them to the NAC Championship game tomorrow afternoon.

Inside the Numbers: Stoddard led the Mariners with a game-high eight goals and one assist, along with a game-highs of 12 draw controls and six ground balls. Cook and Harriman added two goals each. Alejandro caused a game-high two turnovers and picked up one ground ball, while Magaña won five draw controls, caused one turnover, and picked up one ground ball.

Callie Andolina led the Wildcats with six goals, four draw controls, and one ground balls, while Sydney Allan chipped in four goals, seven draw controls, and two ground balls. Alexa Andrews and Harley Elridge each picked up three ground balls.

Charlotte Rose (Newark, Del.) recorded eight big saves in net for the Mariners, while Amanda Drazek tallied 12 saves for the Wildcats.

Maine Maritime held a 36-29 advantage in shots and a 19-14 advantage in ground balls over the Wildcats.

Up Next: The Mariners advance to the NAC Championship tomorrow, May 1 at 1:00 pm against #1 seeded SUNY Canton in Canton, N.Y.