Division II Rewind: A Rematch in the Final

The midweek action in the NCAA Division II men's tournament was fairly chalky. 

The higher seed won three of four quarterfinals, the lone exception being the seventh-seeded Anderson knocking off the sixth-seeded Lenoir-Rhyne. 

Adelphi handled NE-10 rival Pace 12-5 behind big days from Kyle Lewis and Braden Donnellan. Long-stick midfielder Carter Linkletter had two goals, one assist, two caused turnovers and six ground balls, singlehandedly wreaking havoc on the Pace offense while Christian Tomei stood tall in net with 15 saves. 

Tampa used a big second quarter to pull ahead of Lewis and stay there, winning 12-9. Zack Friend, Grant Green, Matt Vara and Eric Burbank all had three-plus points.

Molloy put an end to the Saint Michael’s Cinderella run, 12-7. It was a goalie battle for most of the afternoon, as John Basile and Nate Gulachenski went save for save. Basile finished with 15 and Gulachenski 14, while Brian Green’s hat trick made the difference in the win.

Anderson ran off three unanswered fourth-quarter goals while shutting out LRU in the final frame to win 9-7. Radyn Badraun scored five goals in the effort, but the star of the show was Adin Laughlin. The Anderson netminder made a whopping 25 saves. He made 10 in the second quarter and eight in the fourth, shutting out the Bears in both frames. The save total was a program record for Anderson, and that 78-percent save rate was also a career high for Laughlin.

On Sunday, it was Molloy’s turn to try and dethrone the juggernaut that is the Adelphi Panthers. The two met in early April, and Molloy made it a battle, with Adelphi escaping with a 10-9 win. Notably, the Panthers were without Tomei that day. Not the case this time. 

Tomei made 10 stops, went 73 percent, and Molloy couldn’t find the back of the net one time in the first half. The Panthers blasted out to a 10-0 lead in the first two quarters and never looked back. Adelphi won the semifinal 19-4, led by Braden Donnellan’s seven assists and Michael Durnin’s five goals.

Tampa and Anderson played back in March, and it was an instant classic. Anderson won that day in overtime, but the rematch was more one-sided. The Spartans used a strong four-goal second quarter to stretch their lead to 7-3 heading into the halftime break. 

Goals from Rex Kesselring, Aaron Cho, Rafe Bradshaw and Eric Burbank made sure that Tampa was in control. The third quarter was a wash with each team putting up three goals. Anderson refused to go away, but ultimately, the Spartans bested the Trojans with a three-goal run in the final stanza spearheaded by Cho, who had one goal and one assist in the final frame.

It’s a rematch. Adelphi versus Tampa, once again, in the NCAA Division II final.