TOURNAMENT INFO
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(Lebanon, Ill., May 2) – The defending Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference women's lacrosse tournament champions will begin their quest to repeat this Friday in the semifinal round in Allendale, Michigan. The McKendree University Bearcats are the #4 seed in the 2018 edition of the tournament and will take on the #1 seed Grand Valley State University Lakers at 3 pm CST.

The Bearcats finished off the 2018 regular season with an overall record of 8-9, which included a three game winning streak to end GLIAC play, in which they finished over .500 at 7-5. McKendree clinched the fourth and final spot in the conference tournament with a 22-10 victory at Concordia St. Paul last Friday evening.

Senior attacker Dana DiPasquale (St. Charles, MO/Barat Academy) currently lead the GLIAC in scoring, recording 48 goals and 42 assists in 17 games for the Bearcats. Another senior attacker for McKendree, Paige Salthouse (St. Louis, MO/Ursuline Academy), is the reigning conference Offensive Player of the Week following a 16 point performance in two games over the weekend.

Junior midfielder Hannah Sugarman (Holden, MA/Wachusett Regional) leads the Bearcats in both ground balls and caused turnovers, with 68 and 39 respectively. Junior attacker Emily Nelson (Deephaven, MN/Holy Family Catholic) has netted 37 goals for McKendree this season, while sophomore goalie Collin Patton (Wildwood, MO/Eureka) has started all 17 games in net for the Bearcats.

The two semifinal winners will meet in the 2018 GLIAC championship game on Sunday afternoon at the GVSU Lacrosse Stadium. More information on the event can be found by following the above link entitled "TOURNAMENT INFO".

#13 Grand Valley State University Lakers (13-4, 11-1)
The Lakers only dropped one conference game all year, earning the #1 seed in the GLIAC tournament and giving them the right to host the event on their campus. The GLIAC regular season champions ended the year on a four match winning streak, which they are taking into the conference tournament.

Midfielder Erika Neumen leads GVSU in goals with 51 on the season and also leads her team in ground balls (46) and caused turnovers (32). Senior attacker Ashley Bailey has accumulated a team best 68 points (39 goals and 29 assists). Senior goalkeeper Brianna DeMilia leads the conference with an impressive 49.5 save percentage.

Grand Valley State is 9-1 all-time against the Bearcats, including two wins this season. McKendree defeated the Lakers in the GLIAC Championship game last season by a score of 12-8.