No. 1 MOUNT ST. MARY'S (11-5, 7-1 MAAC) vs. No. 4 IONA (8-8, 6-2 MAAC)
MAAC SEMIFINALS
Friday, May 2 | 12 p.m.
Emmitsburg, Md. | Waldron Family Stadium
 
ESPN+ (Christian Taylor, Dante Verme) | LIVE STATS | GAME NOTES
 
EMMITSBURG, Md. (May 1, 2025) – The quest to win a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Championship begins Friday for Mount St. Mary's women's lacrosse. As the No. 1 seed, the Mountaineers host the semifinals and finals and welcome the No. 4 seed Iona Gaels as their opponent.
 
MOUNT UPDATE

• Victories over Marist, Iona, and Merrimack down the stretch enabled the Mountaineers to earn the top seed in the tournament. They won the tiebreaker over Fairfield by defeating the Stags 10-7 back on April 5.
• Mount St. Mary's gets the opportunity to host the conference championship for the fifth time as a program. They reached the final in each of the previous four and won the conference title twice on home turf. All four hosting gigs came as a member of the Northeast Conference.
• In addition to winning on home turf in 2005 and 2021, the Mount took the NEC crown in 2004 and 2022.
• The Mountaineers qualified for the MAAC Tournament every year since they have been a member of the league. They were a #6 seed in 2023, falling to Niagara in the opening round. In 2024, they reached the semifinals as a #5 seed, defeating #4 Iona to get there.
• Coming into the postseason, Mount St. Mary's ranks 12^th in scoring defense, allowed a little over nine goals per game. With 149 goals allowed, they have allowed the fewest in the MAAC, six goals ahead of Sacred Heart.
• On offense, the Mount is 11^th for free position shooting percentage. Anna McQuay is fifth among Division I competitors, firing goals from the 8-meter at a rate of over 70 percent.
• Camille Thomas ranks third among MAAC goalies for save percentage and goals against average, with both categories top 30 in Division I.

SCOUTING THE GAELS

• Iona rocketed to a 5-0 start before dropping two of their last three games in MAAC play to settle in at #4.
• The Gaels rebounded with a 15-7 win over Rider in the second round of the conference tournament. Seven goals in the final frame proved the deciding factor.
• Kira Varada received MAAC Midfielder of the Year and was one of three Iona players to earn All-MAAC honors, joined by Carly Linthicum on defense and goalie Ava Giugliano. Finley Mulhern got an All-Rookie award.
• Varada excels all over the field for the Gaels, leading the team with 39 goals, caused turnovers with 53, draw controls with 51, and ground balls with 51.
• Giugliano sees most of the time in goal, earning a save percentage above .500, stopping 95 shots on goal while conceding 90.

ALL-TIME SERIES
 
With their win on April 16^th, the Mount takes the edge in the series with Iona, three games to two. The Mountaineers have won three of four since the teams began meeting as conference foes.
 
UPCOMING SCHEDULE

After the Mount/Iona game, Fairfield and Siena face each other in the second semifinal. The advancing teams then square off in the MAAC Championship game on Sunday (May 4) at 11 a.m., which will be televised live on ESPNU.