SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – For the second year in a row, Notre Dame College women's lacrosse finishes the season with the Mountain East Conference Tournament trophy. And for the second season in a row, the Falcons reached double-digit victories. On Sunday, NDC fended off a late Frostburg State University comeback to win the title by a score of 17-15.

Both teams had a turnover in the first three minutes of the game before Frostburg State's Anna Kearney scored the first goal.

The Falcons' draw control team continued to dominate in the championship game. The Falcons grabbed nine of the 12 draws in the first quarter. Graduate student Emileigh Scott won five draw controls in the first 15 minutes. She finishes third in NCAA Division II single-season history by averaging 12 draw controls per game and is eighth in D2 history with 180 total draw controls this season.

The Bobcats scored three consecutive goals to grab a 5-3 lead. NDC did not go too far away and Scott would score on a free position shot to pull within one, 6-5, as the first quarter came to an end.

The second quarter was the difference in the game as Notre Dame outscored FSU, 6-0. Frostburg won the opening draw control, but freshman Piper Hammond caused a turnover. That led to a tough goal by Scott to tie the game, as she was bumped by the defense, fell but kept possession and got up to score.

Notre Dame's goalkeeper Mackenzie Levine saved three shots in the second, including a free position shot with three minutes remaining. She would end the game with 10 saves, which is the third most in a game this season for the senior.

"I just relied on my instincts and all my training and just knew if I could get a couple [saves] early and get my adrenaline going, it would help secure the win," Levine said.

NDC scored twice in a minute to pull ahead 7-6 and, later in the quarter, scored twice within a minute to grab a 9-6 advantage.

The Falcons slowed the offense down just a bit, but after an FSU yellow card gave Notre Dame the advantage, Hammond found Scott for the woman-up goal. With 34-seconds remaining before halftime, freshman Lexington Carson put the ball in the back of the net to go ahead 11-6.

"There were a lot of possessions where the defense locked it down," head coach Ben Morhac said, speaking about the second period. "We played really good help defense. And you can't do that without winning the draw, so our draw team did an amazing job. Everyone on the field did a great job that quarter."

The Bobcats won the draw to begin the third quarter, but Lilly Stephens' shot was saved by Levine.

Senior Ebony Reddick and sophomore Charlotte Vari each scored to make the score 13-6 with 3:33 remaining in the third. Frostburg State's Kerri Hayes scored at the 2:54-mark, giving the Bobcats their first goal since the 59-second mark in the first quarter.

That would bring about a small shift in momentum as FSU scored again with 19 seconds left in the third. The Bobcats would then outscore NDC 7-4 in the fourth quarter.

Loberg scored the first goal of the fourth, with an assist by Hammond, to give NDC a 14-8 lead.

Frostburg then closed the gap to four goals, 14-10, with 10:18 to go before NDC put three of the next five goals on the scoreboard to pull ahead 17-12. Scott had two of the goals during the run and Dano had a goal and an assist.

Scott finished the game with seven goals and finished the season with 61, becoming the program's single season leader in that category, along with taking the single season draw control record.

"Emileigh felt like she had something to prove," Morhac said. "She's been a do-it-all player for us this season, so it was great to send her off with a win."

"We knew it was going to be tough game," Scott mentioned. "We both wanted it. We came out on top. We played hard and stuck to our game plan, especially playing as a team."

In the final 5:30 of the game, NDC was held scoreless. Frostburg scored three straight to pull within two, 17-15, with 1:51 remaining in the game.

The next draw control became a battle with the momentum on the side of the visiting team. Loberg scooped up the ball and took control.

"We came together as a group and we were supreme in our decision making and the plays we were able to make stops on," Loberg said.

The shots in the game were even at 27 for both teams.

Reddick and Hammond were named to the All-Tournament Team, while Scott was named Tournament MVP.

"It's just surreal," Mackenzie Levine exclaimed. "To go out in my final year with a win, I couldn't have asked for better teammates, better coaches or better friends."

"It feels great," Reddick said. "I'm just glad that we were able to keep it up and we weren't one of the teams that only won once."