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Easton, MA — Shark Week has officially been moved from its regularly-scheduled slot in July.
 
Entering the week as Northeast Conference (NEC) regular season co-champs while clinching the league’s AQ to the NCAA Tournament on Thursday, third-seeded LIU (12-6) finished what they started before the week’s end.

But it took some time to get there.
 
Withstanding a pair of first-half lightning delays at W.B. Mason Stadium, the second of which spanned nearly an hour and a half, the Sharks hoisted the NEC Tournament trophy more than four hours after the game’s first draw with a 14-9 victory over top-seeded Stonehill (11-7).
 
It’s a near carbon copy of a week-long stretch that resulted in LIU adding 2024 NEC regular season co-champ, 2024 NEC Tournament champion and 2024 NCAA Tournament automatic qualifier to its résumé a year ago.
 
It also marked the second time in as many years that LIU dismantled the tournament’s top seed in the league’s title game, as the Sharks took home their first-ever championship with a 10-7 win at No. 1 Sacred Heart in 2024. 
 
Ava Taylor stole the show for the Sharks. Netting three goals to lead LIU past second-seeded Wagner in Thursday’s semifinal, the senior midfielder turned the trick once again and made it back-to-back hat tricks on Saturday. 
 
Her final two scores — LIU’s first two of the fourth quarter — helped fuel an offensive outburst that saw the Sharks blow open a tie game and take a commanding 13-7 lead heading into the final four minutes.
 
Racking up seven points on the weekend, Taylor walked away with the Most Valuable Player award.
 
She was also named to the NEC All-Tournament Team, where she was joined by teammates Mylie Norton, Ally Taranto and Julia Trainor. 
 
Trainor matched Taylor’s game-best totals in both goals (3) and points (4), while Taranto won four key draws. Norton, last year’s MVP, made six saves while limiting the Skyhawks to just four scores in a pivotal second half. 
 
Stonehill came out of the gates with the upperhand, taking a 2-1 lead before the game was halted for the first time with 10:05 left on the clock due to lightning. The two sides drew even before the end of the quarter, and following the second stoppage, which came at the 9:56 mark of the second stanza, the Sharks scored two of the next three goals to go up, 6-5, at the break.
 
LIU would not relinquish that lead, despite Val Beigel and Sofia D’Agostino tying up the game at seven goals apiece with 9:55 to go in the third.
 
From there, it was all LIU. 
 
Behind a suffocating defensive effort, the Sharks held the Skyhawks off the scoreboard for nearly 23 minutes and allowed their lead to balloon to 13-7 with 4:08 remaining.
 
Stonehill managed two late scores inside the game’s final 2:13, but the damage had already been done. 
 
Sofia D’Agostino, Emily LaPia, Grace Murphy and Val Beigel each struck twice to pace the Skyhawks’ offense. 

NEC All-Tournament Team
Ava Taylor, LIU (MVP)
Mylie Norton, LIU
Ally Taranto, LIU
Julia Trainor, LIU
Emily LaPia, STO
Lauren Molinaro, STO
Nina Tremonte, STO
Ella Marino, WC
Ryan Murphy, WC
Taylor Coughlin, SFU
Brooke Lacey, SFU