Michigan, Clemson, Georgia, Virginia Tech Reach WCLA D-I Semifinals
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© 2026 USA Lacrosse. All Rights Reserved.
© 2026 USA Lacrosse. All Rights Reserved.
NAPLES, Fla. — Wednesday was a bad day for the WCLA’s national tournament favorites, as the top three teams entering this week’s championship were all sent packing — one day after the number four seed was also eliminated — creating a final four devoid of a top four seed for the first time in the championship’s 25-year history.
When the dust had settled from the quarterfinals, No. 5 Michigan was the highest seed remaining and will be joined in Thursday’s national semifinals by No. 6 Clemson, No. 7 Virginia Tech and No. 8 Georgia.
The Bulldogs may have been the day’s biggest dragonslayer, leading from start to finish to down No. 1 seed UC Santa Barbara, 15-8. Leading by one at halftime, Georgia outscored UCSB 8-2 in the second half and iced the win with a 5-0 fourth quarter. The victory avenged a 16-7 loss to the Gauchos from earlier this season.
“We all know that Nationals is a completely different ball game and you can’t go off of what you saw earlier in the year,” said Georgia’s All-American defender, Alex Young. “We’ve all played a lot of super competitive games since earlier in the year and we were ready.”
While the Bulldogs’ defense, anchored by goalie Emily Weir with 12 saves, held UC Santa Barbara to single digits in goals for just the second time this season, the Georgia offense kept the pressure on. All-America attacker Kay Page led the way with six goals, including four in the second half as Georgia pulled away.
“We know that anyone can beat anyone on a given day,” Young said. “We knew coming in that this is anyone’s tournament, and we knew that if we play our best game, we can keep up with anybody.”
Georgia will have another rematch Thursday, facing No. 5 Michigan. The Wolverines, who beat the Bulldogs back in February, advanced by defeating their arch-rival Michigan State, 11-8.
Defense carried the day for Michigan, with freshman backup goalie Amelia Marsh emerging as one of the heroes. Marsh made just the second start in her young career due to an injury to All-American starter Jessica Bae and anchored a strong defensive effort behind Claire Briglio and Caroline Lee.
“I was really nervous, but I just tried to turn that nervous energy into excitement,” said Marsh, who finished with nine saves. “The defenders just kept telling me, ‘We got your back,’ and ‘You can do this’ and gave me a lot of support. Knowing that my teammates have that trust in me is so great.”
Marsh joined the Wolverines in January after spending the fall training for the Disney Marathon in Orlando, which she ran along with her mom and sister. Despite the challenge of running 26.2 miles, she said that getting the starting nod in the national lacrosse championship may have been the tougher task.
“It’s isolating to be in the goal, so this might be mentally harder,” Marsh said. “They are such different experiences, but they are both fun.”
Defense was also the difference in No. 7 Virginia Tech’s 8-6 win over defending champion and No. 2 seed Boston College. The Hokies (9-2) limited BC to its lowest goal output of the season while handing the Eagles their first loss of the year.
“The key for us is playing good team defense by being as loud as we can and not getting down on ourselves,” defender Charlotte Plano said. “It went exactly how we hoped it would today.”
While the defense did its job, Maria Eckhart and Kendall Pacitti each registered two goals to lead the offense. The victory avenged VT’s first round loss against the Eagles in last year’s tournament.
“We’ve had faith in our team this entire season, and we were excited to get a shot at BC again after losing to them last season,” Plano said. “When we play this well, we know we can go pretty far.”
Clemson is the only semifinalist returning from last year, punching its ticket with Wednesday’s 9-5 win over SWLL rival Florida. Two goals by both Nini Clarke and Tilly Wolfe helped lead the Tigers back to the final four. Clemson had lost 5-4 to Florida early in the year and welcomed the chance for payback.
“That’s a game we’ve wanted back all season,” senior defender Liza Cawley said. “We just wanted this win so badly because we just want to keep playing together.”
Georgia def. UC Santa Barbara, 15-8
Virginia Tech def. Boston College, 8-6
Clemson def. Florida, 9-5
Michigan def. Michigan State, 11-8
1 p.m. — No. 5 Michigan (13-3) vs. No. 8 Georgia (12-6)
4 p.m. — No. 6 Clemson (11-2) vs. No. 7 Virginia Tech (9-2)
The WCLA is comprised of nearly 150 college club (non-varsity) teams from coast-to-coast that compete under the USA Lacrosse umbrella. From these, the most deserving Division I and Division II club teams qualify for the season-ending national championships, conducted annually since 2001 by USA Lacrosse.
USA Lacrosse is providing video streaming of all D-I and D-II games throughout the tournament. Streaming packages, ranging from single-game viewing to a full tournament pass, can be purchased at USALacrosseTV.com.
Additionally, USA Lacrosse uses SportsEngine Tourney to provide live scores and tournament updates for the 2026 WCLA National Championships. The SportsEngine Tourney APP can be downloaded to your smartphone in order to access the latest information.
Capelli Sport, CWENCH, Halpern Travel, Gait Lacrosse, GoLive Sports, N&D Sports, and SportsEngine serve as official event sponsors for the 2026 USA Lacrosse WCLA Championships, with local support provided by Florida’s Paradise Coast – Naples, Marco Island, Everglades Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Paul Ohanian has worked at USA Lacrosse since 2006 and is currently the senior manager of program content. Prior to joining USA Lacrosse, he served as SID at a Division III school with a strong lacrosse tradition and learned to appreciate the commitment and passion that athletes at all levels bring to the game.
