Ella Highbarger scored five of her six goals in the first half as top-seeded St. Joseph’s rolled to its first Great Northeast Athletic Conference women’s lacrosse championship since 2022, cruising to a 12-3 win over Emmanuel on Saturday in Standish.

Taylor Dumond opened the scoring with two early goals, then Highbarger put in five in a row as the Monks (18-3) built a 7-0 halftime lead. Dumond stretched the margin to 9-0 with two more goals in the third quarter before Emmanuel (15-6) got on the board.

Dumond finished with five goals, and Celia Melanson had five assists as she broke the Monks’ record for career assists. She now has 163 assists, two more than the record set by her coach, Lydia Dexter.

Dinah Wadleigh scored the final goal for the Monks, who earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament.

WESTERN CONNECTICUT STATE 11, SOUTHERN MAINE 9: The top-seeded Wolves (15-3) broke a 9-9 tie in the fourth quarter and won the Little East Conference championship with a victory over the second-seeded Huskies (14-5) in Danbury, Connecticut.

USM led 7-6 at halftime, fell behind 9-7 in the third quarter, then pulled even on goals by Mariam DeLisle and Anna Byers.

Western Connecticut, though, took the lead for good when Isabella Pota and Grace King scored early in the fourth.

DeLisle, Katelyn D’Appolonia, Cierra Hill and Eliza Pattershall all score twice for USM. Hill also had two assists. D’Appolonia tied USM’s single-season record with 94 points, matching Aliza Jordan’s mark from 2019.

MEN’S LACROSSE

BOWDOIN 17, HAMILTON 11: Casey Ryan scored six goals and set up three others, leading the top-ranked Polar Bears (16-0) past the Continentals (9-7) in a New England Small College Athletic Conference semifinal in Brunswick.

Sam Raye-Steiner added four goals and two assists, Chris Berry scored three goals and Huck Trafton netted a pair as Bowdoin advanced to its first NESCAC final since 2022. The Polar Bears will host the NESCAC title game at noon Sunday against second-ranked Tufts, the two-time defending NCAA Division III champion.

TUFTS 15, BATES 7: The Jumbos (16-1) raced out to a 6-0 lead in the first quarter and advanced to the NESCAC championship game by defeating the third-seeded Bobcats (11-5) in Brunswick.

Brooks Hauser led Tufts with four goals and two assists.

Connor Hartman netted four goals and Riley McClure had three goals and two assists for Bates.

RIVIER 8, ST. JOSEPH’S 7: The top-seeded Raiders (18-0) erased a 6-3 halftime deficit, scoring five straight goals in the third quarter in the second half to win the Great Northeast Athletic Conference championship in Nashua, New Hampshire.

Sixth-seeded St. Joseph’s (11-9), bidding for a third straight upset win in the tournament, controlled the first half with the help of three goals by Nicolas Michaud and a goal and three assists from Brandon Cavicchi.

MAINE MARITIME ACADEMY 20, THOMAS 7: Tristan Reinhold scored six goals, Dustin Burton won 24 of 26 faceoffs, and the top-seeded Mariners (10-5) rolled into the North Atlantic Conference final by defeating the Terriers (7-8) in Castine.

Ryan Parent and Ryker Spear each added three goals and Trey Marcil collected five assists for the Mariners, who will play Husson on Sunday. The second-seeded Eagles beat SUNY Delhi, 19-13.

Owen Lyons led Thomas with three goals.