Spartans Edge Stevenson for Third-Straight Commonwealth Crown

The top-seeded York women's lacrosse team captured their third-straight Commonwealth crown in an 8-7 victory over third-seed Stevenson on a rainy Saturday afternoon at Kinsley Field.

Spartan goalie Bella Garabo earned Commonwealth Championship MVP honors for the second-straight season as she backstopped a stellar Spartan defense which held the Mustangs to single digits for the second time this season.

Team Records
Stevenson 12-7
#18 York 13-6

How It Happened
The Spartans and Mustangs traded goals 11 seconds apart as they stood tied, 1-1, with 12:15 left in the first quarter. After a 10-minute scoring pause, Kara Yarusso put Stevenson ahead up one with 2:23 left, but Sydney Mentzer netted her second goal of the quarter for York with 53 seconds left to send the game into the second quarter tied, 2-2.

After trading goals again to start the second quarter, the Spartans broke open the tied game with a three-goal run to end the quarter and took a 6-3 lead into halftime which matched the largest lead of the game for either team. Mentzer scored the first four goals of the game for the Spartans before York's other big offensive threats, Gianna Huet and Zoe Kluegel, joined the party with the final two tallies of the half.

After ending up on the wrong side of a 4-1 goal differential in the second quarter, the Mustangs turned the tide with a 3-2 scoring advantage in the third quarter. Erin Steinberg tallied twice for Stevenson in the quarter, including a power play goal which cut the deficit to one, but Krista Yarusso bumped the Spartan lead back up to two with 7:51 left in the third which ended up being the final Spartan tally of the day.

Stevenson came out strong to start the fourth and cut the York lead down to one on an Ava Treakle goal with 13:12 left to play. After a defensive stop, the Mustangs had a prime opportunity to tie it up, but they were snakebitten when an Isabelle VanEmburgh shot rang off the crossbar. Stevenson's misfortunes continued to pile up as the four quarter unfolded with turnovers on five-consecutive possessions, while holding the Spartans scoreless throughout the quarter. The Mustangs managed to get a defensive stop with under a minute left which set up one last possession in an attempt to tie it up in regulation. Stevenson put the ball in Yarusso's stick in a one-on-one matchup, but Bella Garabo stepped up big for York and snared Yarusso's shot with 10 seconds left to clinch the win and the title.

Up Next
The Spartans have earned an automatic berth in the NCAA Division III women's lacrosse championship tournament. They will find out their opponent and location information during the selection show which will air on Monday, May 6 at 10:30 a.m. on NCAA.com.

Notes
The Spartans have now won eight-straight against Stevenson to improve to 10-4 all-time against Mustangs … York is now 2-2 all-time against Stevenson in conference tournament games with a record of 2-0 against the Mustangs in Commonwealth title games … York is 19-14 all-time in conference postseason play with a record of 4-6 in conference title games … the Spartans are now four-time conference champions with three titles as members of the MAC Commonwealth … the Spartans have now won 29-straight games against Commonwealth opponents … York also extended their season win streak to 10 games which matches a program record; it is the third time in program history and second time in two years the Spartans have achieved a 10-game win streak … the top-25 Spartan defense held the Mustangs to single digits twice this season and has limited their last 11 opponents to under 10 goals dating back to Mar. 30 … Bella Garabo earned her second-straight Commonwealth Championship MVP honor after posting nine saves, four ground balls and a career-high tying three caused turnovers … Sydney Mentzer led all players with four points on four goals … Sarah Christensen put together a banner performance with career-highs in ground balls (6) and caused turnovers (4).

This story originally appeared on www.ycpspartans.com.