Eight more spots have been secured for the NCAA Women’s Lacrosse Championship after an exhilarating Saturday slate.
Three games went to overtime, including Georgetown’s 9-8 double overtime victory over No. 15 Denver in the Big East championship, and Loyola erased the demons of home losses to Navy in the past two Patriot League championship games with a dominating 21-9 victory.
Here’s the rundown of Saturday’s eight championship games:
American Athletic Conference
Florida 15, Cincinnati 9
It was a new league, but a familiar feeling for Florida.
The Gators downed host Cincinnati to win their sixth straight conference tournament championship. Florida won the American Lacrosse Conference in 2014, the Big East four straight years from 2015 to 2018 and then this championship in the inaugural season of the American Athletic Conference.
Lindsey Ronbeck followed up a three-goal, two-assist performance in the semifinals by scoring six goals to earn tournament MVP honors
Who knew Gators could fly? Lindsey Ronbeck with goals as @GatorsLAX beats Cincinnati 15-9 to win inaugural @American_WLax championship. pic.twitter.com/vPzvn6GeGv
— US Lacrosse Magazine (@USLacrosseMag) May 4, 2019
Shannon Kavanagh added four goals and three assists for the Gators, who won their 10th straight game to improve to 13-6.
America East
Stony Brook 21, Albany 7
Don’t look now, but Stony Brook is one of the hottest teams in the country. After beginning the year 4-4, the Seawolves have won 11 straight games. Number 11 came in the America East championship game, a 21-7 win over Albany to give Stony Brook its seventh consecutive league title.
Tournament MVP Ally Kennedy had six goals to give her 80 for the season and 39 in Stony Brook’s last seven games and Taryn Ohlmiller had a season-high five goals, including this behind-the-back beauty.
straight wins for @StonyBrookWLAX as they claim 7th straight @AmericaEast title, beating Albany 21-7. Ally Kennedy with 6 goals, Taryn Ohlmiller with 5, including this BTB. pic.twitter.com/OG9BQyM031
— US Lacrosse Magazine (@USLacrosseMag) May 4, 2019
Atlantic Sun Conference
Jacksonville 20, Liberty 18
Jacksonville has the nation’s top scoring offense and the Dolphins needed it to get past Liberty 20-18 in a high-scoring shootout in the Atlantic Sun championship game at Coastal Carolina.
Jacksonville has now won the Atlantic Sun three straight times and in six of the last seven seasons.
Freshman Molly Brock had 11 draw controls, four goals and two assists to earn tournament MVP honors.
Molly Brock (4G, 2A) is the @ASUNWLax tournament MVP and @JAX_WLAX clinches its third straight conference title and sixth in seven years with a 20-18 victory over Liberty. pic.twitter.com/Su83vxpEy1
— US Lacrosse Magazine (@USLacrosseMag) May 4, 2019
Hayley Ciklin had a team-high seven points on five goals and two assists for Jacksonville, which led by as many as seven goals before Liberty mounted a second-half challenge, pulling to within two goals on four separate occasions.
Jenna Joyal and Brianna McCaffrey each scored five goals for Liberty.
Big East
Georgetown 9, Denver 8 (2 OT)
Georgetown dug itself a 6-0 deficit to start the game, but used a suffocating defensive effort to come back for a 9-8 double overtime win over Denver to claim its first Big East championship since 2010.
The Hoyas victory has ramifications around the country. Georgetwon earned the league’s automatic qualifier to the NCAA tournament, but Denver is in strong position to earn a bid as well, meaning one bubble team just saw its season come to an end.
The Hoyas got to within 7-4 late in the first half, but Denver seemingly regained momentum on Bea Behrins goal with just one second left in the first half to take an 8-4 halftime lead.
Instead, Georgetown shut out for the remaining 37+ minutes of the game.
The Hoyas scored four second half goals, tying the game with 9:51 left on Michaela Bruno’s goal and then in the second overtime, Francesca Whitehurst delivered the game-winner.
HOYA SAXA!
— US Lacrosse Magazine (@USLacrosseMag) May 4, 2019
Francesca Whitehurst hauls in the skip feed, face dodges and finishes to lift @HoyasWLax to the 9-8 victory over Denver in 2OT — and their first @BIGEAST title since 2010 pic.twitter.com/K6VtMPrxiV
Whitehurst, Bruno and Taylor Gebhardt all scored twice for Georgetown and Haelle Chomo made eight saves. Bea Behrins led Denver with a hat trick.
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
Fairfield 10, Siena 9 (OT)
Kelly Horning’s overtime goal with 33 seconds remaining gave Fairfield a 10-9 victory over Siena, giving the Stags their second straight Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship.
Back to back. Kelly Horning's OT goal gives @StagsWomensLax its second straight @MAACSports championship. Fairfield edges Siena 10-9. Olivia Conquest makes 14 saves in the win. pic.twitter.com/bQojMpcXJz
— US Lacrosse Magazine (@USLacrosseMag) May 4, 2019
Olivia Conquest made 14 saves for Fairfield, 10 of those coming in the second half, including one at the end of regulation that sent the game to overtime.
Horning led the Stags with three goals and Meaghan Graham had two goals and two assists. Siena, which set a school record with 12 wins, was led by Kerry Gerety had two goals and three assists and Nicole McNeely with four goals.
Northeast Conference
Wagner 7, Mount St. Mary’s 6
It only figured that two of the nation’s top goalies would wage a defensive battle and that’s exactly what happened in the Northeast Conference championship game.
Wagner came out on top 7-6 over host Mount St. Mary’s in the lowest-scoring championship game in league history when tournament MVP Kelsey Fee made her 11th save of the game on a free position shot at the buzzer.
Kelsey Fee's 11th save of the game comes at the buzzer and @WagnerWLax beats Mount St. Mary's 7-6 to win the @necwlax title and NCAA berth. pic.twitter.com/jJmCMa9OQ1
— US Lacrosse Magazine (@USLacrosseMag) May 4, 2019
Erin Kersetter and Madeline Seims each scored two goals for Wagner, with both of them scoring key second half goals after Mount had tied the game 5-5.
Mount goalie Jillian Petito made 17 saves in a losing effort and Jordan Butler led the offense with a pair of goals.
Wagner, led by first-year head coach Michelle Tumolo, is headed to the NCAA tournament for the second straight year.
Patriot League
Loyola 21, Navy 9
Loyola’s 2017 and 2018 seasons ended with Patriot League regular season championships, but painful losses to Navy in the league’s tournament championship on its home field.
A quick 3-1 start by Navy on Saturday in the Patriot League final had to have Loyola seeing some rough flashbacks, but the Greyhounds wasted little time in seizing control.
Loyola scored on its first six shots of the game and scored 11 of the next 12 goals after falling behind by the early two-goal deficit.
Loyola goalie Kady Glynn made six of her eight saves in the first half to frustrate Navy and Hannah Powers had a four-goal, five-assist effort to cap off a fantastic tournament. Powers, who had eight goals and an assist in the semifinal, was named the MVP after setting tournament records with 12 goals and 18 points.
Emily Cooper added five goals for the Greyhounds and Livy Rosenzweig had two goals and six assists, finishing with a tournament record 10 assists.
Annalise Heyward had three goals for Navy and Kelly Larkin had two goals to become Navy’s all-time leading scorer with 337 career points, passing Jasmine DePompeo (2010-13). Just a junior, Larkin’s point total also set a new Patriot League record.
Southern Conference
Mercer 15, Furman 14 (2 OT)
Freshman Hailey Rhatigan scored seven of Mercer’s first eight goals and then scored her eighth goal of the game in the second overtime to lead the Bears to a 15-14 victory at Furman in the Southern Conference championship game. It was the second straight SoCon championship for the Bears.
SoCon. So good. Freshman Hailey Rhatigan scores number to give @MercerWLAX a 15-14 overtime win over Furman. Second straight @SoConSports for the Bears. pic.twitter.com/ffxBE2JTCc
— US Lacrosse Magazine (@USLacrosseMag) May 4, 2019
Neither team led by more than two goals in the game and the scored was tied on 11 different occasions.
Kelly Haggerty scored three clutch goals for Mercrer in the final 10 minutes of the second half, giving the Bears a 14-12 lead with four minutes left in regulation, but Furman got goals from Grace Pollak and Isabelle Walsh to send it to overtime.
Abby Shields led Furman’s offense with three goals and two assists and Courtney Baker made 12 saves.
The final three automatic qualifiers will be decided on Sunday with the Big Ten, Colonial Athletic Association and Ivy League championship games scheduled. The NCAA tournament selections will be announced on Sunday night at 8 p.m. on www.ncaa.com.