The No. 25 Colorado College women's lacrosse team sealed its third consecutive Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament title Sunday afternoon with a 22-8 victory over UW-River Falls in River Falls.
With the Tigers' 11
th straight victory, they collected the WIAC's first-ever automatic qualifying berth to the NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse Tournament.
CC will find out who and where it plays on the NCAA selection show, which will air on Monday, May 4, at 8:30 a.m. MT on NCAA.com.
On Sunday against the Falcons,
Charlotte Iler,
Oliv Janerico and
Maddie Jenks led the way. Iler scored a game-high four goals, while Janerico scored twice and added four assists to lead all players with six points and Jenks had three goals and two assists for five points.
Sofia Mancino and
Sofia Niklaus each had three goals and an assist
River Falls' Molly Pierce scored back-to-back goals to give the Falcons 3-1 lead midway through the first period, but the Tigers rallied to score the next five, including a pair from
Meilani Molina, to take a 6-3 lead after 15 minutes.
Colorado College kept the momentum from that run the rest of the contest, outscoring UW-RF, 16-5, in the final three periods.
The Tigers were also stifling on defense, with senior goalkeeper
Cassidy Schnaufer making seven saves and
Grace Bean causing a team-high four turnovers.
Sophie Mineroff and
Amanda Roan led CC with three ground balls apiece.
CC held a 19-13 advantage in draw controls, with Molina leading the way with a game-high five, followed by Mancino and Jenks with four each.
"I am thrilled for this team and program to get our first ever AQ bid, it seems like a 30-year journey is complete," head coach AJ Johnson said. "We ended the conferenrce tournament on a high note with everything clicking. We are now excited for part two."
Colorado College will make its 14
th overall and third straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
