LAKEWOOD, NJ-The Georgian Court University lacrosse squad, in its fourth year of existence, secured its first conference title Sunday afternoon with a 19-4 defeat of #2 Holy Family University in the CACC Championship Game, a contest played on the GCU campus.
Lions' goalie, Christine Latteri, earned MVP honors after tallying seven saves in just over 48 minutes (48:19) for her 16th victory of the year. For the tournament, Latteri denied 20 opponent shots over the two games. The senior ends her collegiate career with a 25-1 record (including postseason) vs. conference opponents.
The Tigers (10-7) jumped out to a 2-0 lead as Jennifer James (Jr.-Philadelphia, PA) found the back of the net at 28:50 and 21:09 of the first half.
The game took an unfortunate turn for Holy Famiy at 17:22 of the first . Holding a 2-1 advantage, the Tigers lost goalkeeper Melissa Jenkins (So.-Glenolden, PA) for the remainder of the contest with a knee injury. Stephanie McNesby (Fr.-Philadelphia, PA), the 2010 CACC Rookie of the Year as a middie, replaced Jenkins between the pipes.
This marked the beginning of the end for Holy Family as Georgian Court University barraged the Tigers with 13 unanswered goals for a 14-2 lead.
James would net two more goals for Holy Family in the second half, giving her four total on the afternoon.
Juniors Daryl Carr and Ryan McGrath led GCU (17-2) with four goals each. Seniors Christine Flaherty (three goals) and Natalie Bermudez (two goals, two assists) compiled multi-point efforts in the final collegiate game for each.
Bermudez, Laura Housel and McGrath joined Latteri on the CACC All-Tournament Team.