Everything You Need to Know About the NCAA D-II Women’s Final Four

We’re down to the final four in NCAA Division II, and following last weekend’s quarterfinal games, the NCAA committee re-seeded the advancing teams to establish the matchups for Thursday’s national semifinals in Rochester, N.Y., at Judson Stadium on the campus of RIT.

SEMIFINAL SCHEDULE

All times Eastern.

4:30 p.m. — (1) Florida Southern (19-1) vs. (4) Pace (16-5)
7:30 p.m. — (2) East Stroudsburg (20-1) vs. (3) Maryville (16-4)

Thursday’s semifinal winners meet in Saturday’s national championship game at 5 p.m.

Here are four things to know about this week’s championship.

There Are Four New Faces … Sort Of

Perhaps as a reflection of the continued parity in Division II, none of last year’s four semifinalists made it back to this year’s championship weekend. No. 1 seed Florida Southern eliminated two-time defending champion Tampa in last week’s regionals, and as the top seed coming out of the South Region, the Mocs might be the team to beat in Rochester. But that’s not a sure thing. There’s lots of pedigree among this year’s final four.

Florida Southern and Pace are both former national champions, with FSC winning the title in 2016 and Pace running the table in 2023. The Setters return to the final four for the first time since capturing the title three years ago.

“We knew we had the pieces this year, but we’ve really focused on getting the culture right and on the process,” Pace head coach Tricia Molfetta said. “This team has been pretty relentless since the fall. We’ve had our ups and downs, but we’ve been relentless to reach the final four.”

And while East Stroudsburg and Maryville have never won the title, both programs have been consistent top-10 contenders in recent years. ESU is back in the final four for the fifth time since 2018 and was the national runner-up in 2022, while Maryville has come one game shy of the semifinals in each of the past two seasons.

Maryville Breaks Through

Maryville won 17, 18, and 19 games from 2023-25 without a semifinal appearance to show for it. After knocking on the door in each of the past three years, the Saints broke through this year by overcoming their primary nemesis in the Midwest Region, UIndy. 

The Greyhounds eliminated Maryville in the regionals in 2023 and 2025, but the Saints turned the tables this season against their Great Lakes Valley Conference rival. UIndy beat Maryville in both the regular season and the GLVC championship this spring, but Maryville prevailed in last weekend’s regional final, winning 11-10.

“Every time you play in May, you’re just grateful for another day,” Maryville head coach Melissa Gyllenborg said. “We get to stay together, be together, and keep playing lacrosse because we love it.”

The Scoring Title Might Be on the Line

The two most prolific scorers in the nation will be matched up in Thursday’s second semifinal. First-team All-Americans Sadie Kauffman of East Stroudsburg and Paige Murphy of Maryville are tied for the national lead in goals scored this season with 106. Both have been dynamic throughout the 2026 campaign.

Former Maryville standout Sydney Tiemann owns the single-season goals record of 115, which she set in 202.  Now a junior, Murphy transferred to Maryville this year after playing her first two collegiate seasons at Emmanuel (Ga.), where she topped 100 goals as both a freshman and sophomore.

The Canada native became the first player in NCAA Division I or Division II history to score at least 100 goals in three seasons.

This season, Murphy has scored five goals or better in 13 of 20 games, including 10 goals in an early season win at Concordia-St. Paul. She is converting 76-percent of her shots on cage.

Kauffman comes into Thursday’s contest coming off a career-best nine-goal performance in ESU’s regional final win over Kutztown. The sophomore also has two other games of eight goals and three 10-point performances. Kauffman has helped to make East Stroudsburg the nation’s top scoring team this year at 18.7 goals per game.

“Sadie has such a great work ethic, and she is really locked in right now,” ESU head coach Xeni Barakos-Yoder said. “We don’t count on her to always dominate like that and we feel like we have built a good arsenal around her, but she has truly elevated her game in the past few weeks.”

Top Seeds Still Matter

Last year, the NCAA expanded the Division II tournament from 16 to 24 teams and began providing first-round byes to the top two seeds in each of the four regions. Having to play one fewer game while also getting home-field advantage certainly paid dividends this year. The semifinals feature three No. 2 seeds and one No. 1 seed.

That doesn’t mean a top seeding is any type of guarantee to advance. As any coach will tell you, reaching the final weekend of the season requires a lot of things to come together, both on and off the field, with a little bit of luck mixed in.

“Everybody being healthy has definitely helped us to get to the final four,” Florida Southern head coach Kara Reber said. “This team has never not believed that we could do it. They are always so positive and always believe we will win every game.”