Women's Lacrosse Finishes Season as NJCAA Runner Up

Women's Lacrosse Finishes Season as NJCAA Runner Up

ARNOLD, MD – The No. 3 Anne Arundel Community College women's lacrosse team's upset bid fell short against top-ranked Harford Community College Sunday in the NJCAA Women's Lacrosse National Championship game. The Riverhawks fell to the Owls, 22-12.

The game was a rematch of last weekend's NJCAA Region XX Championship which saw the Riverhawks upset the Owls, 19-18 in OT, but this weekend's title tilt was a different story.

Harford (14-1) never trailed in the game and captured its first national championship thanks in part to eight goals and an assist from Tournament Offensive MVP Sarah Dudick.

Natalie Sonntag led Anne Arundel (11-4) with four goals and an assist to go with a postseason high 15 draw controls. Jordan Snyder and Bridgette Tayman each added three goals.

Harford controlled the bulk of the first half, seeing the Owls score twice within the first 90 seconds of the game before Tayman potted a free position goal at 27:35.

The Owls scored seven of the next eight goals to build a 9-2 lead at the midway point of the first half, then extended their lead by closing out the half on a 5-2 run. 

Harford extended its lead to 11 with the first two strikes of the second half, but Anne Arundel chipped away, getting as close as seven after goals from Snyder and Sonntag just nine seconds apart.

The Owls scored three goals in the final three-and-a-half minutes for the final 22-12 score.

Sarah Healy made 17 saves for the Riverhawks, including a pair on back-to-back free position attempts midway through the second half. Harford finished the day 2-for-9 in free position shots. Harford goalkeeper and Defensive MVP Amanda Cliffe stopped seven shots.

Harford outshot AACC, 46-28, and held a 27-15 advantage in groundballs. AACC turned the ball over 22 times, at the hands of the Owls on 15 occasions. Harford turned the ball over 15 times, caused by AACC seven times, including three by Tayman.

The Riverhawks made their seventh appearance in the national title game, their first since 2013.