NE10 Semifinals: Saint Anselm Edge Pace 2-1, Assumption Shut Out Adelphi 1-0 — Final Set for Sunday
Sunday’s NE10 final is the one everyone in the conference wanted. Top seed Saint Anselm against second seed Assumption, at Grappone Stadium, with the title on the line. Both sides had to sweat for it on Friday night.
Saint Anselm beat Pace 2-1 in Manchester, and for a while it looked like the upset was on. Bella DiFiore tipped in a Maggie McCready shot at 10:36 of the first quarter, and the Hawks carried that 1-0 lead into the second half. Pace had other ideas. With 2:54 left in the third quarter, Josefina Villa Alonso finished off a Grace Francis assist to make it 1-1, and suddenly the top seeds were wobbling.
They wobbled for exactly 100 seconds. Meghan Smith tipped in an Alexa Garthee shot with 1:14 left in the third, and that was that. Pace threw everything at it in the fourth, seven shots and five penalty corners, but Layla Cameron held firm in goal and the Hawks saw it out. Saint Anselm outshot Pace 19-12 on the night.
It was a proper semi-final, and Pace can hold their heads up. They’d already beaten Saint Anselm 3-0 in Pleasantville on 31 October, so nobody in Manchester will have been surprised at how close this ran. But the Hawks are into a fourth straight NE10 final, their seventh overall, and they’re going for a second straight title and a fourth in programme history.
Brzoska does it again for Assumption
The other semi-final was tighter still. Assumption beat Adelphi 1-0 in Worcester, and the only goal of the game came from the player you’d pick. Marta Brzoska, the Greyhounds’ top scorer, netted her 11th of the season at 33:01 of the third quarter, finishing off a Julia Carbone assist. One goal, and that was enough.
Assumption dominated the numbers, outshooting Adelphi 20-11 with an 11-6 edge in shots on goal, but Adelphi hung in there until the end. The Panthers’ season finishes at 13-7, and they’ll be kicking themselves that a side this good couldn’t find one goal. For Assumption, it’s a return to the final, and the Greyhounds are 15-4 now.
Brzoska’s been the story of Assumption’s season. She led the whole conference with 70 shots on goal, and she was named to the NE10 First Team this week alongside Defensive Player of the Year Caroline Mastergeorge and Daisy Stone. The Greyhounds put nine players on the All-NE10 teams, more than anyone else, and on Friday night they showed why.
A final with history
This is the third time Saint Anselm and Assumption have met in the NE10 final. Saint Anselm won it 2-1 in 2023. Assumption won it 3-0 last year. The Hawks took this season’s regular-season meeting 2-1 at Grappone on 17 October, so home advantage counts for something, but not much. These two finished level at 8-1 in conference play, and there’s nothing between them.
For our money, Saint Anselm’s home crowd and the memory of last year’s 3-0 defeat in the final just about tip it. But Brzoska in this kind of form can win a final on her own, and Assumption have already shown they travel well. It should be a cracker.
The final is Sunday 15 November at 1pm ET (11pm PKT) at Grappone Stadium in Manchester, New Hampshire. The winner takes the NE10 title and the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division II tournament, with the selection show following on Sunday evening.
