Lexington, Ky. – The Transylvania women's lacrosse team captured its third consecutive conference tournament championship with a 20-3 win over the Hanover College Panthers in the 2021 Heartland Collegiate Lacrosse Conference Championship on Saturday afternoon at Pat Deacon Stadium.
The Pioneers won their third straight conference tournament championship to stamp their third consecutive ticket into the NCAA Women's Lacrosse Tournament with a sweltering win over the Panthers in Saturday's championship.
RJ Johnston ignited the championship procession from the opening draw, posting four goals along with one assist. The senior notched the first two goals of the afternoon to launch the Pioneers into the NCAA Tournament stratosphere, further solidifying an HCLC dynasty.
The Pioneers completed their pre-NCAA Tournament run with an 11-4 overall record and a 6-0 record against their HCLC opposition between the regular season and conference postseason. Hanover's season finished at 4-5 overall.
Transylvania posted a first-half shutout against the Panthers on the way to its ninth straight win entering the NCAA Tournament, cruising to a 13-0 lead by halftime and never looking back.
Johnston had the first two goals of the day for Transylvania, the opening strike with creativity and precision, and the other on a free position shot. Salem Carlow surfaced for the first of her three goals on the day to raise Transylvania's lead to 3-0 six minutes into the contest.
Transylvania displayed its dominance as Courtney Pontious went on a long run in transition and quickly found Carlow, who zipped a pass to Johnston as the senior clinched a hat-trick with 19:52 left in the half.
Abbey Peterson's third goal with 11:29 remaining in the first half propelled the Pioneers to a 10-0 lead as Transylvania sped towards the championship ending.
Pontious shifted into high gear as the afternoon progressed, scoring four of her match-high five goals in the second half to push the Pioneers towards the finish line.
Mandi Rider became the fourth Pioneer to achieve a hat-trick with her free position goal with 19:45 left in regulation to build the Transy stronghold to 16-1.
The Pioneers overwhelmed Hanover, outshooting the Panthers 43-22 and outgaining them in ground balls by a margin of 30 to 13. The Pioneers captured 19 of 25 draw controls and hounded the Panthers into 19 turnovers on Saturday.
Carlow finished her final home match with six points, six ground balls, and four draw controls. Pontious put forth a game-high 10 draw controls to go with one caused turnover and seven points.
Abbey Peterson also registered a hat-trick to cap off a total team effort for the Pioneers.
Transylvania's conference championship triumph marked the second straight time the Pioneers have beaten Hanover in the crowning match after the Pioneers won the previous tournament championship in 2019 in a 20-0 shutout.
The Pioneers will find out their NCAA Tournament first-round opponent during Monday morning's NCAA selection show, streamed live on NCAA.com on Monday, May 3 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern time.
For more on Transylvania women's lacrosse, follow @TransyWLax on Twitter
HCAC All-Tournament Team
Rachel Kyle – Mount St. Joseph
Cecelia Horn- Mount St. Joseph
Abbey Voss - Franklin
Bayleigh Riddle- Franklin
Anne Breeding - Hanover
Charlotte Verbanik - Hanover
Milah Young - Hanover
Masi McNally-Henriksen - Hanover
RJ Johnston - Transylvania
Salem Carlow - Transylvania
Courtney Pontious - Transylvania
Abbey Peterson - Transylvania
