Adelphi, Tampa, Slippery Rock, UIndy Advance to D-II Women's Semis

Last year, all four No. 1 seeds lost home games in the NCAA quarterfinals, an unprecedented occurrence in the 25-year history of the NCAA Division II women’s lacrosse tournament. 

This year, the top seeds fared a little better, although there were a few surprises once again.

Two No. 1 seeds — Tampa and Adelphi — and two No. 2 seeds — Slippery Rock and UIndy — punched their tickets into next week’s national semifinals with wins in Saturday’s regional finals. The national committee will now reseed the teams to determine the matchups for Thursday’s semifinals in Salem, Va.

A closer look at Saturday’s national quarterfinals:

Slippery Rock def. West Chester 16-13

Slippery Rock scored six first-quarter goals and never let up to take down undefeated and top-ranked West Chester, earning its first-ever berth to the final four. Slippery Rock was 0-16 all-time against West Chester, including a 17-11 loss in the PSAC championship game two weeks ago, but made key plays at both ends of the field to hand West Chester its first loss of the year.

The Rock never trailed, and nursing a one-goal lead early in the fourth quarter, tallied four straight goals over a six-minute stretch to seize control. Leora Owings, Grace Rotter and Abby Fink scored three goals each to pace a highly efficient offense, which converted 16 of 25 shots.

Slippery Rock (18-2) continues an historic season in which it won its first PSAC West title, earned its first NCAA tournament berth and now claimed its first regional title. West Chester (19-1) was playing in its sixth straight regional final, and for the third straight year, suffered its only loss of the season in the NCAA tournament.

Tampa def. Florida Southern 12-10

Mary Kate Person scored a game-high four goals, and All-American attacker Peyton Howell added three to lead the defending champion Spartans to their third win of the season over league rival Florida Southern. The two SSC powerhouses were meeting in the South Region final for the third straight year.

Seven straight goals over the final eight minutes of the second quarter, including three extra-player tallies, helped Tampa build a 12-7 halftime lead. That proved to be enough cushion to withstand FSC’s second half comeback attempt.

Tampa (19-1) carries a nine-game winning streak into Thursday’s national semifinals, while Florida Southern ends its season with an 18-3 mark — with all three losses coming at Tampa.

Adelphi def. Pace 13-12 (OT)

Alexandra Leggio scored her third goal of the game 4:38 into overtime to lift Adelphi back to the national semifinals for the second straight year. Adelphi built a 7-1 first-half lead but watched Pace come all the way back, tying the score with 5:27 left in regulation on Gigi Genovese’s free position goal.

Adelphi (18-3) extended its winning streak to 11 games and claimed its second one-goal win over Pace (17-5) this season after defeating the Setters 14-13 in the NE10 championship game on May 3. 

The teams were meeting in the East Region final for the third straight year.

UIndy def. Maryville 15-11

UIndy rebounded from an early 4-0 deficit to win the Midwest Regional in the third meeting of the year between the two GLVC rivals. Emily Ghazal, Olivia Bladon and Kendall Conrad each scored three goals, and the UIndy defense held Maryville’s top-ranked offense in check over the final three quarters. 

Ava Graham anchored the unit with 13 saves for the Greyhounds, who came into the game with the nation’s sixth-ranked scoring defense.

After trailing early, UIndy (15-6) turned the game around by outscoring Maryville 6-0 in the second quarter. The Greyhounds return to the national semifinals for the first time since winning the NCAA title in 2022.  

Maryville (19-2) set a school record for wins this season and had its 19-game winning streak snapped with the loss.