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Hamilton, NJ - The players' names have changed, but Sacred Heart's status has not.

The Pioneers have been perennial title contenders since the inaugural NEC championship in 2009 and they are back on top of the conference for the fourth time in 11 seasons.

Making it through to the NEC championship final for the fifth year in a row, Sacred Heart closed out the deal on Sunday at Hamilton Lanes as its youth-infused roster posted a 4-to-3 best-of-7 baker victory to swing the mega match result in the Pioneers' favor.

Mount St. Mary's, which made it through to the NEC title bout as a first-year program, triumphed in the first portion of Sunday morning's mega match.

The Mount, which entered the day needing a mega match victory to force a subsequent tie-breaking best-of-7 baker battle, posted a 914-900 traditional team win over SHU.

Then, the two sides locked horns in a tightly-contested quint baker match. Heading into the final game of the five-game baker series, only two pins separated Sacred Heart and the Mount.

With the quint baker result still hanging in the balance late in the fifth game, SHU anchor Rachel Bamford stepped up and punched out the 10th frame to clinch the win. The victory evened the mega match at 1-1 and set the stage for the epic best-of-baker showdown.

"When I was in the moment, I was just trying to breathe," said Bamford. "I was focusing on getting through my shot. I knew I needed to execute and the pins just happened to fall my way."

Bamford along with No. 4 bowler Tori Boughton were the lone Pioneers to enter the weekend with NEC Tournament experience under their belts.

SHU graduated five seniors from the squad that advanced to the 2018 NEC Tournament Final, including all-NEC performers Amanda Nardiello (a former NEC Bowler of the Year) and Dominique Newton.

"We knew that we had to work hard and step up if we wanted to reach that same level that we did last year," said Bamford.



Mega Match Scores
Championship Round
Sacred Heart 2, Mount St. Mary's 1
[MSM 914, SHU 900 - traditional team]
[SHU 935, MSM 911 - quint baker]
[SHU 4, MSM 3 - best-of-7]