Salve Regina wins tiebreak; No. 4 seed will host Hawks on Sat.
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - While enjoying a 5-1 mark in away games during the regular season, Salve Regina University women's lacrosse gets rewarded with a home game as a Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Championships quarterfinal on Saturday, April 28.
Endicott College has earned the top seed for the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) women's lacrosse championship, which begins with quarterfinal round games on Saturday, April 28.
The Gulls (10-5 overall) claimed the top seed in the conference tournament after posting a perfect 7-0 record in CCC play. The top-seeded Gulls and second-seeded University of New England (12-4 overall, 6-1 CCC) will both receive byes in the tournament's quarterfinal round.
Two quarterfinal matches will be played on Saturday, April 28. Third-seeded Gordon College (12-3, 5-2) will host sixth-seeded Western New England (6-11, 3-4) at 1 p.m. in Wenham, Mass., while fourth-seeded Salve Regina University (11-5, 3-4) will host fifth-seeded Roger Williams University (5-11, 3-4) at 1 p.m. on Gaudet Field in Middletown, R.I.
Salve Regina scored nine goals in each half to defeat its in-state rival Roger Williams, 18-13, on April 3 in Bristol. The Seahawks' top-scoring trio of Jennifer Jones (Basking Ridge, N.J.), Sarah Livingston (Westford, Mass.), and Kelly Burke (Georgetown, Mass.) scored six, five, and four goals, respectively in the win.
Winners of the two quarterfinal matches will advance to the semifinal round on Wednesday, May 2. Top-seeded Endicott will host the winner of the Salve Regina vs. Roger Williams quarterfinal, while second-seeded UNE will host the winner of the of the Gordon vs. Western New England quarterfinal. Both semifinal matches are scheduled to begin at 4 p.m.
CCC tiebreaking procedures were used to break a three-way tie for fourth place in the conference standings, as Salve Regina, Roger Williams and Western New England each completed the regular season with identical 3-4 CCC records.
All three teams posted 1-1 records in conference games played among the three schools (step one) and also had identical records against every other team in the league (step two). The three tied teams all had identical records against one common non-conference opponent (step three). In the fourth and decisive step, Salve Regina posted the best record of the three tied schools against opponents with a .500 or better winning percentage (3-4, .429), which earned the Seahawks the fourth seed. Roger Williams and Western New England returned to the top of the tiebreak procedure, and the Hawks claimed the fifth seed by virtue of a victory over Western New England in the teams' regular-season meeting.
Tournament action culminates with the CCC championship game on Saturday, May 5 at 1 p.m. The CCC tournament champion will earn an automatic berth in the upcoming 2012 NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse Championship.
The complete tournament schedule appears below. All times are tentative and subject to change.
2012 CCC WOMEN'S LACROSSE CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
Quarterfinals
Saturday, April 28
#6 Western New England at #3 Gordon, 1 p.m.
#5 Roger Williams at #4 Salve Regina, 1 p.m.
Semifinals
Wednesday, May 2
#4/5 winner at #1 Endicott, 4 p.m.
#3/6 winner at #2 University of New England, 4 p.m.
Championship Match
Saturday, May 5
Semifinal Winners (at higher seed), 1 p.m.