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Hope College

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The Hope College women's lacrosse holds the MIAA Tournament championship trophy.
Alan Babbitt
8
Trine TRINE 12-6
20
Winner Hope HOPE 13-4
Trine TRINE
12-6
8
Final
20
Hope HOPE
13-4
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Trine TRINE 2 2 2 2 8
Hope HOPE 8 4 4 4 20

Game Recap: Women's Lacrosse | | Greg Chandler

Women's Lacrosse Repeats as MIAA Tournament Champions

The 46-team field will be announced on Monday at 10:30 a.m. on ncaa.com.

Consistency and discipline have been the hallmarks of the Hope College women's lacrosse team all season long, and on Saturday afternoon it paid off in a record-setting performance and a second consecutive MIAA Tournament championship.

The Flying Dutch ran off six consecutive goals in an eight-minute stretch of the first quarter and went on to defeat third-seeded Trine University, 20-8, at Van Andel Soccer Stadium to claim the MIAA's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament.

Hope improved to 13-4 on the season with its ninth consecutive victory, while the Thunder ended their season at 12-5.

"We've been working all season to be consistent all four quarters, and I think today was just a great, true team effort, consistently throughout the entire game," said senior attacker Elena Salazar (Howell, Michigan/Hartland HS), who opened the scoring just 25 seconds after the opening draw. 

"I'm really proud of everybody. We worked together and executed the game plan."

The 20 goals by Hope set an MIAA Tournament championship game record, breaking the previous mark of 19 set by Saint Mary's College during a 19-15 win over Trine in the 2022 championship game.

"Today we showed that we've been practicing on the field with discipline, and ended up [showing] on the field," head coach Keagan Pontious said.

With the score at 2-1 three minutes into the game, Hope put together one of its patented offensive outbursts, starting with a tally by junior attacker Kerrigan Brown (DeWitt, Michigan/DeWitt), assisted by sophomore Julia Brown (Grand Rapids, Michigan/Forest Hills Central). 

Julia Brown scored twice during the six-goal run as the Flying Dutch took an 8-1 lead at the 11-and-a-half minute mark.

Hope led 12-4 at the half and 16-6 after three quarters.

The Browns had a big day for the Flying Dutch. 

Julia Brown, the MIAA's Offensive MVP, tied a career high with a nine-point performance on five goals and four assists, as she became the first Hope women's lacrosse player in school history to top 60 goals in a season. She now has 64 goals on the season. 

Kerrigan Brown added four goals and an assist.

Six different players had at least two goals for Hope. Junior attacker Juli Kirkpatrick (Granger, Indiana/Mishawaka Penn) scored three goals and added two assists, while Salazar also had three goals to boost her Hope career record total to 195. Salazar also had an assist.

Senior midfielder Molly Frederickson (Alto, Michigan/Lowell) and sophomore midfielder Caleigh Randall (Lansing, Michigan/DeWitt) added two goals each. Randall also won 14 draw controls and chipped in an assist. Hope's scoring balance has been a key part of its success all season long.

"I think that sets us up well, to just know the expectation for everybody, to know that when you're in there, you better be going to cage," Pontious said.

Hope outshot Trine 39-13 for the game and dominated the draws by a 26-5 margin.

The Flying Dutch will find out their first-round opponent in the NCAA Tournament Monday at 10:30 a.m. when the 46-team field is announced. The selection show can be seen on ncaa.com.

"It's a pretty cool experience just to even be there, like there's only so many teams in the nation that are still playing," Pontious said. "I think that's kind of the cool part ... to just be with your team for another week without school. It's an unreal experience and we're excited for it."
 
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