SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The first ever SoCon Women’s Lacrosse Championship will take place May 3 and May 5 in Macon, Georgia. The top-seeded Detroit Mercy Titans open up the tournament against the host and No. 4-seeded Mercer Bears at 5 p.m. Following that game, No. 2 Central Michigan will face No. 3 Furman for a chance to advance to the SoCon Championship on Saturday.
Central Michigan sat atop the SoCon standings for the majority of the season, but it was the regular-season finale in which Detroit Mercy downed the Chippewas to clinch the No. 1 overall seed and a share of the regular-season title. With both Central Michigan and Detroit Mercy finishing 4-1 in conference play, the two sides were crowned co-champions of the inaugural SoCon women’s lacrosse season.
Detroit Mercy dominated the all-conference awards, boasting the offensive player of the year, the defensive player of the year, the freshman of the year and coach of the year. Midfielder Kaitlyn Wandelt was named offensive player of the year after leading the league in conference goals with 23. Goalkeeper Allison McDonough earned defensive player of the year honors after racking up 159 saves and going 10-7 in 2018. Meredith Moore, a freshman from Vero Beach, Florida, was named freshman of the year, starting 13 of 16 games down the stretch and totaling 36 points. Laurie Merian, in her second year at the helm of the program, was named SoCon Coach of the Year.
Detroit Mercy will get a chance to avenge its lone conference loss of the year to Mercer on Thursday. The Bears, who boast five players on the all-conference teams, defeated the Titans on the road 17-16 in double overtime on March 31. Mercer, who also serves as the host for the 2018 tournament, went 3-2 in conference, falling to Central Michigan and Furman.
The Chippewas and Paladins will face off in the second game of Thursday’s semifinals. Central Michigan was able to edge out Furman just a few weeks ago, earning a 13-10 win on the road. Due to Furman’s head-to-head victory over Mercer, the Paladins were award the No. 3 seed.
The winner of the 2018 SoCon championship will earn an automatic bid to the 2018 NCAA Women’s Lacrosse Tournament. The selection show will take place on Sunday, May 6, at 9:30 p.m. All games will be broadcast on ESPN+.
For complete coverage and more information, visit our championship page: http://www.soconsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=211654298&DB_OEM_ID=4000
SoCon Women’s Lacrosse Semifinals Thursday, May 3
Game 1: No. 1 Detroit Mercy vs. No. 4 Mercer, 5 p.m.
Game 2: No. 2 Central Michigan vs. No. 3 Furman, 45 minutes after game 1
SoCon Women’s Lacrosse Championship Saturday, May 5
Winner of game 1 vs. winner game of 2
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