The first automatic bid to the NCAA tournament was doled out on Sunday, as Saint Joseph’s earned the Atlantic 10’s nod with an upset win over UMass.
There weren’t any other championship games Sunday, but there was conference semifinal action in the ACC and Patriot League.
HAWKS SOAR TO TITLE
Saint Joseph’s entered the Atlantic 10 championship tournament knowing that a gauntlet lay ahead.
A first-round matchup against sixth-seeded George Washington couldn’t be looked past. Then, after a six-goal win, the third-seeded Hawks snuck past second-seeded Richmond by a goal.
On Sunday, Saint Joseph’s completed the improbable Cinderella run.
Lauren Figura scored five times (giving her 13 total goals in the A-10 tournament) to lead the Hawks in a come-from-behind 15-11 win over top-seeded UMass in the conference championship game. It is the first A-10 championship in program history.
Read more about the game here.
UNC, BC SET FOR EPIC REMATCH
Both North Carolina and Notre Dame made a strong case to win Sunday’s ACC semifinal. Playing on its home turf at Arlotta, the Irish scored the afternoon’s first five goals.
UNC, undefeated and No. 1 in the nation, just needed a little time to wake up. The Tar Heels scored 12 of the next 13 goals, which proved just enough to hold off a late Notre Dame run in a 14-13 UNC victory.
Mary Kelly Doherty scored twice during Notre Dame’s opening 5-0 run, and UNC didn’t score until Scottie Rose Growney struck with 7:45 left in the first quarter. Growney would score twice more during that 12-1 run — including the go-ahead goal at 6-5 — to help UNC to a 12-6 lead.
In a game of runs, Notre Dame still had a big push left in it. Just two days after upsetting Duke to save its season, the Irish scored six of the next seven goals. Jackie Wolak’s 38th strike of the season put her side down 13-12 with 6:32 to play.
But there was Growney, who scored what proved to be the winning goal less than one minute later.
UNC will play Boston College in next Saturday’s ACC championship game. Boston College earned a 20-12 win over Virginia on the strength of six goals and one assist from Cassidy Weeks and three goals and six assists from Belle Smith.
Kayla Martello and Jenn Medjid each notched hat tricks.
The Eagles never trailed after taking a 2-0 lead, but Virginia hung around and was as close as 14-11 with 2:40 left in the third quarter. But the Eagles scored the next five goals — one each from Weeks, Martello, Smith, Annie Walsh and Charlotte North — to put the game out of reach.