WASHINGTON, Pa. -- The Washington & Jefferson women's lacrosse team advanced to PAC Tournament Final with a 12-7 victory over Franciscan in the semifinals on Tuesday evening at Alexandre Stadium. 

With the win tonight, the second-seeded Presidents improve to 9-7 overall. The Red & Black have won a postseason game in each of the last four seasons, winning the former ORWLC Championship twice in that stretch. As for the third-seeded Barons, they end the 2019 campaign with an 8-7 overall record.    

After Franciscan went ahead 2-0 after just 2:03, W&J went on a tear to take a commanding lead. The Presidents scored the next eight goals to take an 8-3 lead into the halftime break. Rae LaRochelle (East Sandwich, Mass./Sandwich) scored the first two and the last two goals of the run, while Clara Sherwood (Indiana, Pa./Indiana Area) tallied two of her own.  

The Red & Black added to its advantage with the first three goals of the second half. LaRochelle, Piper Schinsky (Princeton, N.J./The Hun School of Princeton) and Kayla Boulas (North Branford, Conn./North Branford) all scored to begin the stanza.

Trailing 11-3 with 18:50 left in the game, Franciscan began to rally with a 4-0 run. The Barons did not get any closer than four goals, however, as Sofiya Bobrovnikova (Philadelphia, Pa./Northeast) iced a 12-7 victory for W&J with a goal with 1:09 left.

A critical factor in the Presidents stopping Franciscan's run was their defense. After scoring four goals over a nine-plus minute surge, the W&J defense held the Barons scoreless for the remaining 9:23 of the game. The Red & Black forced five turnovers in the final nine minutes.

Pacing the Presidents tonight was LaRochelle with seven points on five goals and two assists to go along with a game-high eight draw controls. With seven points tonight, the junior moved into second on W&J's all-time points leaderboard with 238 in her career. 

Bobrovnikova was second on the team with four points (2G, 2A). Sherwood was not far behind with three points (2G, 1A), to go along with three draw controls. 

Senior Allison Onslow (Erie, Pa./Villa Maria Academy) led the Red & Black's defense with six ground balls and three caused turnovers. Carli Hopkin (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny) was also stellar on D with four ground balls and two caused turnovers. 

Rookie goalie Sam Lenfesty (Frederick, Md./Frederick) improved to 6-0 on the year with 11 saves in 60 minutes. The freshman keeper has held her opponents to single-digit goals in all six of her starts. 

The Presidents will challenge top-seeded Westminster to become the first champions of the newly reformed PAC women's lacrosse league. The title match is scheduled for Saturday, May 4, at 6 p.m. at the Titans' Burry Stadium.