NCAA Division I Women's Lacrosse Tournament First-Round Recap

Scoreboard | TV Listings

Thirteen high-stakes matchups took place across the country Friday. Scroll below for the scores, standout performances and moments that mattered from each game of the first round of the NCAA Division I women's lacrosse tournament.

First-Round Results

Stanford def. Denver 10-4  
Duke def. James Madison 17-10  
Princeton def. UMass 19-10  
Clemson def. Navy 11-8  
Syracuse def. Brown 15-9  
Stony Brook def. Loyola 11-8  
(4) Florida def. Mercer 18-6  
Penn def. Army 16-6  
(5) Virginia def. LIU 20-6  
Michigan def. Akron 17-6  
(8) Johns Hopkins def. Liberty 21-11  
(7) Yale def. UAlbany 12-9  
(6) Maryland def. Fairfield 16-7

SECOND-ROUND SCHEDULE  
Sunday, May 11

Stanford at (4) Florida - 11 a.m. EDT
Clemson at (1) North Carolina - 12 p.m. EDT
Penn at (6) Maryland - 12 p.m. EDT
Stony Brook at (2) Boston College - 12 p.m. EDT
Princeton at (8) Johns Hopkins - 1 p.m. EDT
Duke at (5) Virginia - 1 p.m. EDT
Syracuse at (7) Yale - 2 p.m. EDT
Michigan at (3) Northwestern - 3 p.m. EDT

First-Round Recap

Denver vs. Stanford
(Gainesville, Fla.)    

✅ Final: Stanford def. Denver 10-4

🔥 Top Performer: Sophia Brindisi, Stanford — The backbone of Stanford's defense led a smothering effort with four caused turnovers and six ground balls. The Cardinal blanked the Pioneers for the final 37:39 and outscored Denver 8-0 in that span. The scoreless second half was a defensive master class.

💥 Key Moment: Trailing 4-2 with less than four minutes remaining in the second quarter, Stanford scored twice before halftime to tie the game. Lindsay Devir had had enough of Denver’s zone. She broke through three defenders to score. Then Aliya Polisky deposited a free position, the first of her team-high three goals, with 33 seconds left to send the Cardinal into the locker room with momentum.

⏭️ Next: Stanford entered the day 0-7 vs. Denver and 0-3 in the NCAA tournament in the Danielle Spencer era. Both winless streaks came to a close Friday, as the Cardinal avenged a 14-9 senior day loss to the Pioneers. It was their first NCAA tournament win since 2016. Stanford has never been to the quarterfinals, something the Cardinal can also change if they can upset fourth-seeded Florida in a second-round game Sunday. The Gators have won both matchups in the series, including an NCAA tournament first-round win in 2015.

—  Matt DaSilva

Duke vs. James Madison                    
(Charlottesville, Va.)

✅ Final: Duke def. James Madison 17-10

🔥 Top Performer: Callie Hem and Ellie White, Duke — It is impossible to choose between the two. Hem scored eight goals on nine shots, which is remarkable, but the work of White on the draw is the reason Duke won this game. Maddie Epke, a first-team All-American draw specialist, was effectively neutralized by White, who won 11 draws. It was a true standout showing. 

💥 Key Moment: When Bella Goodwin found Hem to tie the score at 2 with 9:46 left in the first quarter, it was the calming score Duke needed — but nobody knew just how far the Blue Devils would run with it. That was the first of six Duke goals in a row. It certainly didn't blow the game open, and there was plenty of time left for James Madison, but it gave Duke room to breathe.

⏭️ Next: The Blue Devils draw ACC rival and No. 5 seed Virginia on Sunday. The Cavaliers beat the Blue Devils 16-11 on March 15, though these sides have traded wins the last six meetings.

— Kenny DeJohn

UMass vs. Princeton
(Baltimore, Md.)

✅ Final: Princeton def. UMass 19-10

🔥 Top Performer: McKenzie Blake — What an incredible effort from UMass goalie Catrina Tobin (19 saves), but you simply cannot ignore Blake. She had five goals and two assists for the Tigers and became the single-season Princeton goals leader when she tallied her 76th of the season.

💥 Key Moment: The third quarter was big for the UMass defense, but Blake scored with 6:36 left in the period to extend the Princeton lead to 12-8. It was all Tigers from there, as they scored the first three goals of the fourth quarter to make it 15-8.

⏭️ Next: Princeton draws host and No. 8 seed Johns Hopkins on Sunday. Two teams gifted in the middle of the field, this figures to be one of the best games of the second round. Princeton and Hopkins have not met since March 23, 2013, and Princeton is 7-2 in series history. They played once per season between 2005-13.

— Kenny DeJohn

Clemson vs. Navy
(Chapel Hill, N.C.)

✅ Final: Clemson def. Navy 11-8

🔥 Top Performer: Lindsey Marshall, Clemson – The grad transfer from Towson is Clemson’s leading scorer this season. She was held without a goal through 45 minutes, but then netted a fourth-quarter hat trick to key the Tigers comeback victory, its first NCAA tournament victory in school history. She finished the game with four points on the three goals and an assist.

💥 Key Moment: A five-goal Navy run flipped the game and gave the Mids a 7-5 lead in the third quarter. They maintained a 7-6 lead into the fourth quarter and it was tied 8-8 before Clemson’s Bridget Babcock scored back-to-back goals. The second goal came on an extra-player opportunity with 6:29 to play. It appeared initially that Brooke Goldstein’s pass might have sailed high, giving Navy a chance to kill the penalty and go the other way to score, but Babcock was there to gather the pass and buried the goal that helped seal things.

⏭️ Next: Clemson will play at unbeaten and top-ranked North Carolina on Sunday. It will be the third meeting of the year between the two teams. Carolina won the regular season game 18-5 and then followed up with a 17-7 victory in the ACC tournament semifinals.

— Brian Logue

Brown vs. Syracuse
(New Haven, Conn.)

✅ Final: Syracuse def. Brown 15-9

🔥 Top Performer: Emma Ward, Syracuse — The Orange’s dynamic offensive force paced Syracuse with six points on three goals and three assists, including a no-look behind-the-back goal she stuck in the bottom lefthand corner early in the game.

💥 Key Moment: Late in the first quarter with Brown leading 3-2, Syracuse tied the game up on an own goal. After a battle around the net, the ball was knocked into the Brown goal to tie things up. Officials upheld the goal after replay review and Syracuse never trailed again. Syracuse scored three in a row after the own goal, including goals by Emma Muchnick and Caroline Trinkaus just 58 seconds apart bridging the first and second quarters.

⏭️ Next: Syracuse plays at Yale on Sunday afternoon. Yale won the regular season matchup 13-10 in New Haven, dominating on the draw circle (19-7).

Stony Brook vs. Loyola
(Chestnut Hill, Mass.)

✅ Final: Stony Brook def. Loyola 11-8

🔥 Top Performer: Courtney Maclay, Stony Brook — Maclay had the game of her life, scoring six times on just eight shots to account for more than half of Stony Brook’s goals. Maclay scored four of her team’s first five goals and then scored twice during a key four-goal run in the second half.

💥 Key Moments: Take your pick on Stony Brook’s closing seconds in the first three quarters. After a stagnant first quarter, Courtney Maclay scored with just 15 seconds left on a nice feed from Charlotte Wilmoth at X. The Seawolves won the next draw and Isabella Caporuscio weaved through traffic scored with one second left to put Stony Brook up 3-2. At the end of the first half, Caporuscio came through again, scoring with seven seconds left for a 7-5 halftime lead. Maclay then did the damage at the end of the end of the third quarter, beating her defender on an inside roll to give Stony Brook the lead for good at 8-7.

⏭️ Next: Stony Brook plays at Boston College on Sunday. It will be the first meeting between the two schools since BC staged an epic rally and beat the Seawolves 12-11 in overtime in the NCAA quarterfinals in 2018. BC’s Dempsey Arsenault scored the game-winner from Sam Apuzzo – two players that Stony Brook head coach Joe Spallina would go on to coach to a gold medal as part of the 2022 U.S. women’s national team staff.

— Brian Logue

Mercer at (4) Florida

✅ Final: (4) Florida def. Mercer 18-6

🔥 Top Performer: Gianna Monaco, Florida — Monaco followed up a stellar Big 12 championship tournament by scoring seven times with an assist. Monaco had 11 goals and four assists in Florida’s two Big 12 tournament wins and set a new career-high with her seven goals.

💥 Key Moment:Just 46 seconds after Mercer scored a goal to cut Florida’s lead to 3-2, Gabbi Koury scored for the Gators off a pass from Jordan Basso with 1:39 left in the first quarter. Basso then found Gianna Monaca 35 seconds into the second quarter. Those goals were the first two in a run that stretched to nine in a row before Mercer’s Carolina Glus scored late in the first half.

⏭️ Next: The Gators will host the winner of tonight’s Stanford-Denver game on Sunday afternoon.

— Brian Logue

Army vs. Penn
(College Park, Md.)    

✅ Final: Penn def. Army 16-6

🔥 Top Performer: Orly Sedransk, Penn — This was not the type of one-sided affair that was all offense. Penn and Catherine Berkery (5G, 3A) sure did plenty of scoring, but one Sedransk was responsible for keeping Army from scoring itself. She made 14 saves, continuing her breakout season in the cage.

💥 Key Moment: This was all Penn from the start, as Anna Brandt and Regan O'Brien each scored twice in the first eight minutes for a 4-0 Quaker lead. Their response to Brigid Duffy's goal for Army could be interpreted as the key moment, as Penn ripped off six straight in response to build a 10-1 lead.

⏭️ Next: Penn earns a matchup with sixth-seeded Maryland in College Park on Sunday. This has become a fun back-and-forth the past few years, with Penn nabbing the last two matchups by scores of 13-12 (on March 31) and 13-9 (on March 27, 2024).

— Kenny DeJohn

LIU at (5) Virginia

✅ Final: (5) Virginia def. LIU 20-6

🔥 Top Performer: Madison Alaimo, Virginia — The sophomore attack played the quarterback position to perfection against the Sharks, dishing out nine assists. She got in on the scoring fun, too, depositing two goals of her own. 

💥 Key Moment: Virginia led 2-0 before Pierson Schuchart got LIU on the board with 11:25 left in the first quarter, but Virginia quickly answered. Kate Galica won the next draw and Alaimo assisted Addi Foster, putting the Cavaliers up 3-1 less than 40 seconds after LIU scored. Virginia tacked on another on the next possession, and it was off to the races from there.

⏭️ Next: Virginia will host the winner of Duke-James Madison (6 p.m. EDT on Friday). The Cavaliers are plenty familiar with both, with Duke being an ACC rival and JMU being an in-state rival.

— Kenny DeJohn

Akron vs. Michigan
(Evanston, Ill.)    

✅ Final: Michigan def. Akron 17-6

🔥 Top Performer: Truus van Wees, Michigan — Michigan controlled things from the start, and van Wees made sure the Wolverines never faltered by winning a game-high 10 draw controls. Michigan won 17 of the 27 draws in the game.

💥 Key Moment: The Wolverines built a 5-0 lead in the first 13 minutes, with Calli Norris scoring three of her five goals during that stretch. They never looked back.

⏭️ Next: It will be a B1G battle in the second round as Michigan plays third-seeded Northwestern. Two years ago, Michigan nearly pulled off a massive upset in this round against the Wildcats.

— Kenny DeJohn

Liberty at (8) Johns Hopkins

✅ Final: (8) Johns Hopkins def. Liberty 21-11

🔥 Top Performer: Reagan O'Brien, Johns Hopkins — If it sounds like a broken record, it's because O'Brien keeps breaking records.  The U.S. Women's U20 National Team standout surpassed her own school single-game record with 12 caused turnovers and added to her NCAA single-season record (97 and counting). The Blue Jays had a down day on the draw and needed O'Brien to steal back possessions, and she responded in kind. Ava Angello (six goals, three assists) and Ashley Mackin (six goals, one assist) were superb, but the final score belies just how close this game was. Hopkins only led by two early in the fourth quarter. The Blue Jays needed prime O'Brien and they got it.

💥 Key Moment: Ashley Mackin wasted no time making an impact in her first game back from an injury that had sidelined her since April 10. She scored 1:13 into the game and finished with six goals, making whole again the Hopkins attack which — as evidenced by the Blue Jays' eight goals in the final 11 minutes — can score in droves when it's right. "Super grateful to be back," Mackin said on ESPN+. "This is my favorite thing to do. I'm so lucky to return for this part of the season. Our coaches emphasized all week going into most important stretch of the season, when girls get nervous or girls get tight, you have to support each other. It's been a whole month without playing, and I'm just so fortunate to have these girls by my side."

⏭️ Next: Hopkins hosts either Princeton or Massachusetts in a second-round game Sunday at 1 p.m. EDT. Hopkins and Princeton played each other annually from 2005-2013 but have not met in the last 12 years. The Blue Jays' only encounter with UMass came in the 2023 NCAA tournament, when they defeated the Minutewomen 19-8 in a first-round game in Syracuse, N.Y. Head coach Tim McCormack played goalie for the UMass men's lacrosse team from 2009-12.

—  Matt DaSilva

UAlbany at (7) Yale

✅ Final: (7) Yale def. UAlbany 12-9

🔥 Top Performer: Sky Carrasquillo, Yale — Carrasquillo struggled early, as did the rest of the Bulldogs offense as they fell into a 3-0 hole. Once unburdened of draw responsibilities, however, the senior attacker went on a tear. She finished with four goals and two assists, including the go-ahead goal in the fourth quarter.

💥 Key Moment: Big-time players come up big when it matters most. Yale trailed most of the game. UAlbany, which erased a seven-goal deficit two years ago to stun Virginia in the first round, threatened to pull off the first big upset of this postseason thanks to excellent draw and goalie play. The Bulldogs pulled ahead 10-8 with a 6-1 run spanning the third and fourth quarters, but Mikaela Mooney scored to bring the Geat Danes back within one with 3:36 remaining. Ever-clutch Jenna Collignon won the next draw and scored a minute later, then put the finishing touches on a hard-fought 12-9 win with her 62nd goal of the season.

⏭️ Next: Yale hosts Syracuse on Sunday. They won the regular season matchup 13-10.

—  Matt DaSilva

Fairfield at (6) Maryland

✅ Final: (6) Maryland def. Fairfield 16-7

🔥 Top Performer: Lauren LaPointe, Maryland — A sophomore attacker, LaPointe scored a career-high five goals, giving her 14 goals in the last five games. LaPointe, who does not start but has been increasingly utilized in the second half of the season, scored three of Maryland's first seven goals of the game.

💥 Key Moment: This one was never in doubt. Kori Edmondson scored less than two minutes into the game and Maryland jumped all over Fairfield from the opening whistle. The Terps led 10-1 at one point in the first half and stretched the lead to 10 goals late in the second half. The goal of the game came with 9:33 left in the second quarter, when freshman Ava Kitt scored from a seated position on a twister after getting knocked to the ground during a free position. It was her first career goal.

⏭️ Next: Maryland hosts the winner of Friday’s first-round game between Army and Penn in a second-round game Sunday at noon EDT. The Terps have never played the Black Knights. They’re 11-3 all-time but have lost the last two in their series with the Quakers, including a 13-12 thriller earlier this season in Philadelphia punctuated by Keeley Block with 24 seconds remaining.

—  Matt DaSilva