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The final pairing is set. Adelphi and Tampa both advanced to Saturday’s NCAA Division II women’s lacrosse national championship game with semifinal victories Thursday in Winter Park, Fla.
Adelphi (19-3) defeated East Stroudsburg, 15-10, while Tampa outlasted Regis, 17-16, to set up the final game.
Adelphi, the most decorated program in Division II history, will try to capture its 10th NCAA title, while Tampa is making its first championship game appearance.
After a closely played opening 30 minutes in the first semifinal, Adelphi dominated the second half, outscoring East Stroudsburg 7-2 to avenge its loss to the Warriors from earlier this season.
“The kids figured some things out as we went on and our energy level was much better in the second half,” Adelphi coach Pat McCabe said. “We win because of defense, and everything was buttoned up in the second half.”
Danielle Marino scored a team-high three goals to lead the Panthers offense, with her third goal at 10:34 of the third period making the score 10-9 and serving as the tally that pushed Adelphi ahead for good.
The Panthers scored six of the game’s last seven goals over the final 26 minutes to pull away, with nine different players combining for the 15 goals.
“We rely on ball movement and trusting each other,” McCabe said. “Whoever is open is going to get the ball. We have a lot of different players who can score, and I think that makes it difficult to game plan against us.”
The first half featured seven ties and three lead changes. Adelphi drew first blood on an unassisted goal by Alexandra Leggio at 11:55, but ESU’s All-American Emily Mitarotonda answered less than a minute later by dodging through three defenders from the top of the arc and putting the Warriors on the board. The teams were knotted at 3 after 15 minutes.
A three-goal Adelphi run midway through the second quarter pushed the Panthers ahead 7-5, the first time that either team led by more than one goal.
But ESU answered with its own three-goal spurt, with Courtney Reynolds scoring unassisted on a face dodge at 4:45, then assisting Sophia Graffeo one minute later to knot the score again at 7-7.
Ten seconds later, Mitarotonda went all the way off the draw control to push ESU back in front 8-7. Marino’s second goal with 30 seconds left sent the teams into halftime at 8-8.
The back-and-forth pace looked like it would continue early in third quarter, with Kerrin Heuser’s first goal, assisted by Ashley Kolomechuk (2g, 2a), pushing AU ahead one minute into the second half. Two minutes later, Hannah Schiemer’s fourth goal capped a long offensive set for ESU and tied the score at 9.
But from that point forward, it was all Adelphi. There would be no repeat of the earlier match-up on March 9 in which ESU scored the last five goals of the game to secure the overtime win.
Goalie Abby Simonetti, a first year transfer from UMBC who led the nation in total saves and save percentage this season, tried to keep ESU close with 17 saves, but 17 turnovers by the Warriors, including nine in the second half, thwarted any hopes of a late comeback.
While Adelphi now prepares for one final game in hopes of capturing its first NCAA title since 2019, East Stroudsburg (14-7) bids farewell to one of the most impactful players that Division II has seen. Mitarotonda tallied three goals in her last game, finishing her career with 314 goals, second all-time in D-II history. She also set a new Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference single-season record with 98 goals in 2024.
In the second semifinal, Tampa (18-3) carried a three-goal advantage into the final quarter, then withstood a late charge from Regis to secure its berth into Saturday’s final.
Trailing by two in the final minute, the Rangers pulled to within one on Shea Murphy’s fifth goal of the game with 27 seconds left. Regis then won the ensuing draw and Tampa received a green card with 18 seconds left, allowing the Rangers a final chance to tie the game. Megan Bunker’s shot from eight yards sailed wide as time expired, igniting the start of Tampa’s celebration.
Tied at 10 at halftime following a high-scoring first half, Tampa outscored Regis 4-1 in the third quarter to seize control. Peyton Howell and Gracie Colombo both scored the last of their team-high four goals in that third quarter, and All-American attacker Sarah Hinkle tallied her third of the game to spark the run.
Regis, which finished the game with a 37-28 advantage in shots, pulled to within one goal three times in the final quarter, but was never able to notch the equalizer. The Rangers fell to 0-3 in national semifinal games and had their nation-best 16-game winning streak snapped. After not playing a one-goal game during the season, Regis (20-2) finished the year with three straight one-goal games in the NCAA tournament.
Regis started quickly in Thursday’s semifinal, building an early 4-1 lead as Murphy registered a hat trick in the opening seven minutes. Tampa then answered with its own 4-1 run, tying the game at 5-5 on Hinkle’s first goal three minutes into the second quarter.
Four yellow cards and seven total cards against Tampa in the first half opened the door for Regis once again, with the Rangers benefitting from three man-up goals and two free position scores. But Tampa proved resilient, winning five straight draws in the second quarter and netting five of the last six goals in the period to square the game at halftime.
Tampa claimed its 12th win of the year over a ranked opponent, and now faces a rematch against Adelphi in Saturday’s championship game, slated for a noon start. Visiting Adelphi won that earlier meeting Feb. 28 by a final score of 13-6.
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.
