Box Score GLENSIDE, Pa. – The top-seeded Arcadia University women's lacrosse team defeated second-seeded Wilkes University 17-13 Saturday in the 2014 Freedom Conference Championship Game, and in doing so secured the program's first-ever berth in the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament. Senior Jenna Crothers (Patchogue, N.Y.) was named the 2014 Freedom Conference Women's Lacrosse Tournament MVP.
 
The NCAA tournament selection will be revealed during a live selection show on NCAA.com Sunday at 9:30 p.m. Four first round games will be played Wednesday, May 7, with the second round taking place May 10.
 
This marks the first conference championship and first NCAA tournament appearance for any Arcadia program since joining the Middle Atlantic Conferences in 2007-08. The last time an Arcadia program qualified for the NCAA tournament was the men's soccer team's 2006 NCAA tournament appearance after winning the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference title.
 
This is the third conference championship for the women's lacrosse program. Then Beaver College won the PAC title in both 1995 and 1996. There was no automatic bid to the NCAA tournament in those seasons.
 
The Knights are now 18-1 for the season, marking the most wins in a single season for the program. The Colonels fell to 13-3 with the loss, their second of the season to Arcadia.
 
The game was tied at 3-3 following sophomore Madeline Brownsey's  (Glenside, Pa.) first goal of the game 13 minutes into the first half before Arcadia senior Sara Volk-Perez (Mays Landing, N.J.) scored two goals in a span of 1:47 that started a seven-goal run to end the opening period, giving the Knights a 10-3 halftime lead.
 
Scoring went back and forth the entire second half, which saw a three-goal Colonels' run pull them with 15-10 with exactly eight minutes remaining. Juniors Jaclyn Feffer (Montgomery, N.Y.) and Haylee Molloy (Holtsville, N.Y.) scored back-to-back goals in a span of 1:17 that gave Arcadia a 17-10 lead with 5:04 left in the game.
 
Wilkes closed the game with a three goal run during the final five minutes, but it was not enough to come all the way back.
 
Crothers finished with three goals and a game-high seven assists in the game, giving her a total of four goals and 10 assists for the tournament. She now has 34 goals and a school-record 80 assists for a school-record 114 points this season. He career-assist total is now 116.
 
Molloy and sophomore Dawn Faranetta (Randolph, N.J.) both tallied three goals with two assists, while sophomore Adeline Bellesheim (Sparta, N.J.) scored a game-high four goals in the contest. Sophomore goalie Jordyn Dunacusky (Conshohocken, Pa.) totaled nine saves in the game to improve her record to 18-0 for the season.  
 
Dunacusky's 18 wins in net are a school record for wins in a season, as is her current goals against average of 6.20 in 2014. Molloy now has 197 goals and 48 assists for 245 career points, placing her within two points of tying the program record of 247 points accumulated by Traci Conrad (1994-97).
 
Senior Gabby Ford (Elmont, N.Y.) scored three goals with three assists to lead the Colonels, while junior Carley Smith (York, Pa.) finished with three goals and one assist. Freshman Katherine Marcoux (Bow, N.H.) also had a three-goal game. Freshman goalie Morgan Galluzzo (New London, N.H.) had just four saves while taking the loss in net.
 
Arcadia held a 28-25 advantage in shots and a 25-21 edge in ground balls, while Wilkes had a 17-14 edge in draw controls.