Lacrosse Falls in Double Overtime Thriller to Akron, 10-9

Team	1	2	3	4	OT	OT 1	Final F
Eastern Mich.	0	1	4	4	0	0	9
Akron	2	3	1	3	0	1	10

MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. (EMUEagles.com) -- After erasing an early five-goal deficit and eventually forcing overtime, the Eastern Michigan University saw its 2026 season end in heartbreaking fashion as the Eagles fell to the University of Akron in the semifinals of the Mid-American Conference Tournament, 10-9 in double overtime, April 30 at Joe Walton Stadium in Moon Township, Pa. The loss saw the Eagles finish the season at 10-7 overall, marking their first winning season in program history.

How It Happened
Akron opened the game on a 5-0 run that included a 2-0 lead after the first quarter before scoring three more goals to open the second. Kelsea Dague (Lancaster, Pa./Hempfield) put the Eagles on the scoreboard with her free-position goal with 41 seconds remaining in the half to not only stop the Zips' five-goal run but also start a four-goal run for Eastern.

Following the intermission, Tracy Grollman (Annapolis, Md./Annapolis Area Christian School) scored off a pass from Mackenzie Blackwell (North Beach, Md./Northern) with 11:49 to play in the third before Dague recorded her career-high second free-position goal at 7:43 to play. Blackwell and Grollman combined for the next goal, this time with Blackwell, the program's all-time goal scorer, netting the goal while Grollman, the Eagles' all-time assist leader, dish the pass. The goal with 5:52 to play came with the woman-up advantage and put EMU down one before Akron extended its lead with a goal at 1:09. Dague, however, cut the deficit to one as she scored on a pass from Emerson Henry (Ashburn, Ontario/Donald A. Wilson) with 35 ticks on the clock to send the game into the fourth with the Zips ahead, 6-5.

In the fourth, Akron scored once again to take an 8-6 lead with 12:20 to play and extended its lead to 9-6 with a goal at 11:09. Eastern chipped away at that lead with Grollman finding Blackwell for a second time before Grollman scored unassisted to make it 8-7 with 9:46 remaining in regulation. After a UA goal at 8:37 made it 9-7, Katheryn Wilson (Dacula, Ga./Mill Creek) hit a cutting Dague, who scored her fourth with 6:40 to play before Blackwell scored her hat trick with a free-position goal at 2:20 to force overtime. In the first five-minute extra period, both teams had chances to score, but both were denied by strong goalkeeping. In the second overtime, Akron would score the winner with 4:05 remaining to end the game.

Individual Notes
» Kelsea Dague led the offense with four goals to tie her career high set in 2024 in games with Detroit Mercy (April 7) and Central Michigan (April 14) in back-to-back games. Dague, who was sidelined last year with an injury, posted her fourth hat trick of the season while setting a career high with two free-position goals. Her four points tied her season high set Feb. 14 against Xavier when she scored three goals and added one assist.
» Mackenzie Blackwell added to her record output as her final game saw her collect four points on three goals and one assist. She recorded the 40th hat trick of her career to bring her total to 194 goals for Eastern while posting one free-position goal for the 30th of her career. She also recorded the 42nd woman-up goal of her career. Blackwell's assist gave her 19 for the year, which tied for second on the single-season ledger with Avery Schwab, the previous record holder before Tracy Grollman's breakout season this year. All told, Blackwell tallied her 66th point in the game to break her own single season record of 65 set last year.
» Tracy Grollman finished with four points on two goals and two assists, marking the fifth time this year she has recorded at least two in each column in a single game while posting at least four points for the 11th time in 2026, including her final three games of the year. Her four points brought her season total to 58, the third-highest total in program history, while her 39 assists more than doubled the previous record of 19 (Avery Schwab, 2024). For her career, Grollman finished with 71 goals and 74 assists for 145 points, totals that ranked her second, first, and second, respectively, in program history.
» Emerson Henry saw her 11-game goal-scoring streak come to an end, but her single assist pushed her to 12 consecutive games with at least one point. She added a career-high three caused turnovers, tying the mark she set against Robert Morris (April 18).
» Annika Wozney (Elk River, Minn./Elk River) recorded a season-high three ground balls and one caused turnover in the game. Her three scoops gave her 70 for her career, which tied her for fourth all-time and made her just the fourth player to reach 70. Her one caused turnover was part of the team's 13 and brought her career total to 56, the most in program history.
» Maddy Porter (Montrose, N.Y./Hendrick Hudson) recorded eight saves and added six ground balls in the game. She posted a program-record 72 ground balls in 2026, giving her at least 70 in back-to-back seasons after breaking the record last year with 71. She also finished with 161 saves this season, the second-highest total in program history behind her 179 stops made last year.

Team Notes
» Eastern ended its season with a 10-7 record while Akron improved to 12-4.
» Despite the loss, the Eagles finished the season with a winning record for the first time in program history while posting double-digit wins for the first time. The previous best came last year when Eastern finished the regular season at 8-8 and closed the campaign at 8-9 following a loss in the MAC semifinals.
» The Eagles suffered their second one-goal loss in the MAC Tournament to fall to 0-3 in the event. Eastern fell to Robert Morris, 12-11, in their debut at the 2024 event before the loss to Akron this year.
» The game marked only the second time in program history Eastern has played an overtime game and its first going to double overtime. The first time the Eagles played an extra frame came in a 13-12 home loss to Xavier, April 17, 2024.
» Eastern fell to 2-10 all-time in one-goal games and 1-3 against Akron in those contests. Coincidently, both games played against the Zips this year ended by identical scores of 10-9.
» The Eagles broke several records this season with the defense allowing only 171 goals, causing 194 turnovers, and scooping 316 ground balls. The 171 goals allowed are 20 fewer than the previous best of 191 allowed in 2024 while the 194 caused turnovers were a massive improvement of 53 over the 141 recorded last year. The 316 ground balls bettered the record of 298 set last year and marked the first time the team reached 300+ scoops in a single season.

Up Next
The 2026 season has come to an end for the Eagles.

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Team Stats

Dague Kelsea

Blackwell Mackenzie

Grollman Tracy

Nagle Kendall

Players Mentioned

Mackenzie Blackwell

Kelsea Dague

Tracy Grollman

Emerson Henry

Maddy Porter

Avery Schwab

Katheryn Wilson

Annika Wozney