PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The true celebration of the five-year build and battle through the tough times all came full-circle on Saturday afternoon, as the top of the mountain was reached by La Roche women's lacrosse, defeating Mt. Aloysius, 12-6, to claim the program's first AMCC Women's Lacrosse Championship.
The Redhawks would put the pressure on the Mounties early, shutting out the #2 seed in the first quarter, while putting up three goals of their own.
Alecia D'Urso opened the scoring just 28 seconds into the game and that 1-0 lead grew to 2-0 with 7:40 remaining, when D'Urso assisted Jasey Reiser.
D'Urso closed a strong opening quarter with her second goal at 1:45, assisted by Nicole Schroeder.
The second quarter scoring opened at 9:55 with the Mounties first goal, trimming the deficit to 3-1.
Kiki Nemcek would produce the two goals on the side of La Roche, first at 8:37 from the free position, then at 5:13 on an assist by D'Urso, pushing the red and white ahead, 5-1 at the half.
Out of the break, the Redhawks found the back of the net twice in the first 3:06, including Reiser scoring her second, assisted by Sperling at 14:20, then Nemcek's third at 11:54.
Mt. Aloysius would counter with a pair of goals in a 1:04 span, playing a man down, making the score, 7-3.
La Roche would follow the second Mountie goal just 24 seconds later when Reiser setup Nemcek for her fourth of the game, then Reiser at 6:29 built the lead back to six, at 9-3.
Mount wouldn't go away, scoring the final goal of the third to make it 9-4, then opened fourth quarter scoring at 8:22 to cut the deficit back to four.
Both teams traded goals in a 1:02 span, beginning with Jade Fuccaro for the Redhawks at 6:56, then the Mounties at 5:54.
Still up by four with 4:48 to go, La Roche would score the final two goals, one by Fuccaro at that 4:48 mark, then Nemcek's fifth of the game, assisted by Sperling at 2:52, to close the scoring a seal the victory.
The shot totals ended in favor of La Roche, outshooting Mt. Aloysius, 31-21 and 22-17 in shots on goal.
Goalkeeper Jualianna Hornikel came through with 11 saves in the game, facing 17 shots, as the nation's leader in save percentage stopped .647% today, upping her season total.
Nemcek provided all-around play, adding six ground balls and the nation's leader in caused turnovers knocked 10 away from the opposition, to go alongside her five goals.
Reiser chipped in three ground balls and five draw controls to her three goals and one assist, while D'Urso scooped up four ground balls with her two goals and two assists.
La Roche will now await to see if its name is called for an at-large bid to the NCAA DII Women's Lacrosse Tournament, if not, the storybook season of 2025 comes to a close and preparations to repeat in 2026 will be underway.