UConn, Yale Win Thrillers in Division I Women’s Lacrosse Conference Semifinals

All six No. 1 seeds advanced to their respective conference championship games, but Friday had still had drama. UConn, seeded third in the Big East, led second-seeded Marquette by as many as seven goals, but had to hold off a furious late rally for a 17-16 victory over the Golden Eagles. The host Huskies will meet Denver in the Big East championship game.

In the Ivy League, Yale trailed Princeton by three goals in the fourth quarter but scored the final four goals of the game to post an 11-10 victory. The Bulldogs will meet Penn in the Ivy League championship game. Recaps of Friday's semifinal games are below.

For a look at Thursday’s results, check out the recap here. Be sure to check USA Lacrosse Magazine’s Division I Championship Central and TV Listings for skimmable guide’s to this weekend’s action, and check back here and our social channels this weekend for up-to-date bracketology projections, Selection Sunday news, celebrations and more.

AMERICA EAST

(1) Albany 20, (4) New Hampshire 10

Top-seeded Albany will play for the America East title for the 12th year in a row after doubling up UNH 20-10 at home. Katie Pascale’s 12 points (7 goals, 5 assists) set a new America East tournament record. Sarah Falk poured in six goals. Katie Taranto tallied a hat trick and an assist for UNH.

The game was never in doubt. Albany led 4-0 less than 10 minutes into the game. Katie Taranto fed Olivia O’Connor to get UNH on the board at 3::09, but Albany scored the final three goals of the first quarter, including a Grace McCauley tally from Katie Pascale with one tick on the clock. 

Pascale took it herself at 13:27 of the second quarter, ballooning the lead to seven, 8-1. The Great Danes led 12-4 at halftime, which proved insurmountable. 

Making the America East finals is a rite of spring for the Great Danes. So, too, is falling just short. Since winning back-to-back conference titles in 2011 and 2012, Albany has finished in the runner-up spot each year. Expect a cathartic celebration Sunday if the Great Danes flip the script for the first time in more than a decade.

(2) Binghamton 12, (3) Vermont 10

Binghamton will play for an America East championship for the first time in school history. Fueled by a five-point performance from Abigail Carroll, the Bearcats rallied past defending tournament champion Vermont 12-10.

After being locked in a tie at 5 at halftime, Vermont had the momentum early in the second half, scoring the first four goals of the third frame. The Catamounts capped the run and took their largest lead of the game, 9-5, on a McKenzie Ballard goal with 22 ticks left.

The Bearcats got the next two, pulling to within 9-7 when Carroll scored about 90 seconds into the fourth quarter. But Ava Vasile gave the Catamounts a 10-7 lead with 11:30 left. It would be the last goal of Vermont’s season. 

Kristen Scheidel scored at 7:33, with Carroll following 12 seconds later to bring the Bearcats within one, 10-9. Olivia Muscolino evened the score at 10-all by converting a free position with four minutes on the clock. Carroll found Isabella Meli for a goal with 2:55 left, giving Binghamton its first lead since 2-1 at 6:42 of the first quarter. Muscolino iced the win with another free position in the final minute.

America East Championship –  (1) Albany v. (2) Binghamton, Sunday, May 7, 10 a.m. (ESPNU)

ATLANTIC 10

(1) UMass 15, (4) Davidson 8

Seven different Minutewomen registered at least one point, led by a combined 15 points from Fiona McGowan and Alex Finn to help UMass defeat Davidson 15-8.

McGowan’s points came on a game-high fives goals and three assists, while Finn posted a hat trick and four helpers. Amanda Monahan made 11 saves for Davidson.

UMass trailed only briefly, falling behind 2-1 at 9:05 of the first quarter after Grace Fahey and Lauren Garcia went back-to-back. The Minutewomen scored four of the final five goals of the first quarter, going ahead 5-3 when Kylee Bowen scored with seven ticks left.

The momentum carried into the second frame. McGowan found the back of the cage in the opening minute and found Alex Finn for a score at 12:55, widening the gap to 8-3. UMass wound up outscoring Davidson 5-1 in the second quarter, building a 10-4 lead before halftime.

Davidson attempted a late rally, registering the first three goals of the final frame to close the gap to 12-8 when Julianne Carey found Grace Fahey at 8:12. But McGowan scored the game’s last three goals, all on assists from Finn.

(2) Richmond 21, (3) Saint Joseph's 14

For the last two seasons, Saint Joseph’s has ended Richmond’s season in the A-10 semifinals. History didn’t come close to repeating itself this year. The No. 20 Spiders led wire-to-wire, getting six goals from Sophia DiCenso and beating the defending tournament champions 21-14.

Nine Spiders registered at least one point. Colleen Quinn turned in a four-goal performance, while Lindsey Frank (2 goals, 5 assists) and Colleen Quinn (4 goals, 1 assist) also bolstered the offense. Arden Tierney posted three goals, one assist and a game-high 14 draw controls.vMaddie Yoder led the Hawks with a hat trick and a helper.

Richmond opened the game on an 8-0 run and went ahead 13-5 when Quinn scored at 10:17 of the second quarter, but the Hawks scored the next four, closing the gap to 13-9 on a Bonnie Yu goal with 1:01 until halftime. 

DiSenso swung the momentum back in the Spiders’ favor on a goal with 22 seconds left in the second quarter. Richmond began the second half with tallies from Ali Susskind and Quinn, going in front 16-7. The Spiders took their largest lead of the day, 20-11, when Leah Kenny scored to gap a 4-0 run early in the fourth frame.

The win sets up a date with rival and top seed UMass, which routed the Spiders 22-12 all the way back on March 11. Richmond has gone 10-1 since, including winning each of its last five games.

A-10 Championship – (1) UMass v. (2) Richmond, Sunday, May 7, 12 p.m. (ESPN+)

BIG EAST

(3) UConn 17, (2) Marquette 16

UConn led by as many as seven goals and held off a furious rally from Marquette in a 17-16 win in a Big East semifinal in Storrs. 

Big East Co-Attacker of the Year Kate Shaffer scored four goals and added two assists, and Sophie Sorenson finished with three goals and two assists. Grace Coon tallied four goals, including two in the fourth quarter. Her score with 2:26 to play proved to be the game-winner.

Marquette’s Lydia Foust led the game with seven points on four goals and three assists, at times willing the Golden Eagles back into the game. The Golden Eagles' season will end with a program-record 15 wins unless they score an at-large bid. 

Playing a road game despite being the higher seed because of a predetermined championship location, Marquette’s potent offense didn’t have many opportunities early. UConn corralled five of the first six draws and capitalized, racing out to a 5-0 lead when Lia Laprise scored an unassisted goal with 8:06 left in the first.

But the Golden Eagles broke through on a Shea Garcia goal at 4:22 of the first quarter, and Foust got the last two tallies of the frame to close the gap to 5-3.

The momentum didn’t swing in Marquette’s direction for long. The Huskies scored the first four goals in the opening six minutes of the second quarter, getting two from Shaffer, to go in front 9-3. UConn held an 11-6 lead at the break and matched its largest lead when Laprise scored with 4:33 left in the third quarter to make it 15-8

However, Marquette scored the next seven — and fast. It started with Leigh Steiner on a free position shot with 43 seconds left in the third. Steiner struck again from the 8-meter as time expired and then tallied an unassisted goal 46 ticks into the fourth quarter, closing the margin to 15-11. Emma Soccodato scored the next two on Foust assists, and Mary Schumar made it a 15-14 game at 11:31. 

Foust converted a free position at 10:52 that evened the score at 15-all and capped a seven-goal swing in the span of 4:51.

Coon gave UConn the lead back on an assist from Rayea Davis with seven minutes left, but Garcia tied the game at 16-16 at 5:58. Marquette had a chance to take its first lead of the game with Hannah Greving on the 8-meter at 3:32, but Landyn White made the stop, picked up the ground ball and started what turned out to be a successful clear. Coon took another feed from Davis and scored with 2:26 to play.

Steiner and Soccodato had two shots in the final minute, both going wide.

(1) Denver 12, (4) Villanova 7

Denver remains the nation’s lone unbeaten team after downing Villanova 12-7 in the Big East semifinals, teeing up a shot at three-peating as tournament champions against host and third-seeded UConn. The win improves Denver’s record to 18-0 and marked the 18th time the Pioneers held an opponent to single-digit goals.

Denver netminder Emelia Bohi made five saves, caused two turnovers and picked up two ground balls. Abby Jenkins tallied seven draws, and Trinity McPherson tallied five draws, two caused turnovers and two ground balls. Sloane Kipp (3 goals) and Ryan Dineen (2 goals, 3 assists) paced the Pios offensively. Caroline Curnal tallied two goals and a game-high eight draw controls for Nova.

Villanova took the early 1-0 lead on an Isabella Francati goal at 10:25 of the first quarter. But Denver responded swiftly, first with a goal from Kipp at 9:25. Dineen and Ellie Curry followed with goals, putting the Pios up 3-1 with 7:12 left in the first quarter.

Curry got the next one with 43 seconds left, and Lila Knott and Kayla DeRose scored the second quarter’s first two goals, giving Denver a 6-1 lead at the 11:04 mark. The Wildcats scored the next two to pull within 6-3 on an Addie Fischer tally with 5:04 left. But the Pioneers went on a 4-0 run capped by a DeRose goal with 5:47 left in the third quarter to take their largest lead of the day, 10-3.

Big East Championship – (3) UConn v. (1) Denver, Sunday, May 7, 12 p.m. (FS2)

BIG SOUTH

(1) Mercer 18, (4) High Point 7

Mercer will have a chance to repeat. The Bears poured in 10 third-quarter goals to break away from High Point for an 18-7 win in a rematch of last year’s Big South title game.

Shannon Urey, who entered the weekend second in Division I in goals per game, continued her torrid pace by finding the back of the cage five times to lead all scorers. Gabby DiVirgilio posted three goals and one assist. Taylor Suplee faced 37 shots, stopping 19 (.514) for High Point.

Up 5-4 at halftime, the Bears seized control of the game with six unanswered goals in the third quarter. Six different Mercer players scored during the run, which put the Bears up 11-4 and was punctuated when DiVirgilio scored a player-up free position goal with 9:31 left.

Mandy Brockamp converted on a free position to break up the run, but the Bears rattled off the next five, taking a 16-5 when DiVirgilio scored once again with 10:48 remaining.

(3) Campbell 17, (2) Furman 7

Campbell broke open a 3-3 game after the opening quarter of play with a six-goal run on its way to a 17-7 victory over second-seeded Furman.

Olivia Ohlmann scored three of her game-high five goals during the pivotal second quarter run and the Camels also got a seven-point day from Rasa Welsh with three goals and four assists. Campbell shot a blistering 64.3 percent for the game, converting on 18 of 28 shots.

Paige Harman led Furman with five points on three goals and two assists.

Big South Championship – (1) Mercer v. (3) Campbell , Sunday, May 7, 1 p.m. (ESPN+)

IVY LEAGUE

(2) Yale 11, (3) Princeton 10

Yale scored the game’s final four goals to come from behind against four-time defending tournament champion Princeton 11-10.  

Three of those goals came from freshman Bella Saviano, who finished with four. Bri Carrasquillo also tallied four goals for Yale, which advances to the Ivy League championship game for the second-straight year. Grace Tauckus and Sophie Whiteway netted hat tricks for Princeton.

The Tigers led by as many as three twice. They took an early 3-0 lead when Jami MacDonald scored on an assist from McKenzie Blake less than seven minutes into the game. And they went up 10-7 when a Dora Haven goal capped a 3-0 run with 1:34 left in the third quarter.

Saviano took over from there. The rookie midfielder scored unassisted goals at 12:23 and 7:21 to bring the Bulldogs within 10-9. Fallon Vaughn knotted the game at 10-10 with 5:25 left, and Saviano notched the go-ahead goal with 4:13 to play. 

Princeton, out in the Ivy semifinals for the first time since 2016, did not attempt a shot for the final 6:07.

(1) Penn 16, (4) Harvard 8

Host Penn scored less than a minute into the game, the first six goals of the game and cruised to a 16-8 victory over Harvard.

After falling behind 9-1 early in the second quarter, Harvard did chip away to pull within 11-6 late in the third quarter, but Penn then went on a four-goal run to put the game out of reach.

Anna Brandt (5g) and Erika Chung (1g, 5a) paced the Penn offense and Niki Miles had a game-high nine draw controls to help the Quakers to a 20-8 advantage. Harvard was whistled for 38 fouls in the game, compared to just 18 for Penn, and the Quakers made them pay, converting 5 of 11 free position shots.

Maddie Barkate led Harvard with three goals.

Penn will be playing for its first Ivy League title since 2018.

Ivy Championship – (2) Yale v.  (1) Penn, Sunday, May 7, 12 p.m. (ESPN+)

MAAC

(1) Fairfield 14, (4) Quinnipiac 7

MAAC Offensive Player of the Year Olivia Doody tallied three goals and three assists as Fairfield routed Quinnipiac 14-7. Elizabeth Talluto posted three goals and two assists, and Casey Collins stopped 11 of the 18 shots she faced (61.1%). 

Fairfield never trailed, using a three-goal first half from Doody to jump in front 7-1 before the break. Quinnipiac’s Emily Feeney and Abby Wise scored the first two goals of the third quarter to make it 7-3, but the Stags closed the door by scoring seven of the game’s final 11 goals.

(2) Siena 13, (3) Niagara 10

Second-seeded Siena outscored Niagara 6-1 in the third quarter and went on to edge third-seeded Niagara 13-10. Kelly Logue scored six times for Siena, including four goals in the pivotal second half. Sabrina Krasner stopped 11 shots for Niagara. Lexi Branieck paced the Purple Eagles with three goals and an assist.

Neither team had more than a two-goal advantage through the opening 30 minutes, with Niagra taking a 7-6 lead into the locker room. But Siena broke the stalemate in the second half, opening the third quarter on a 6-0 run that included three tallies from Logue. Logue’s goal with 3:21 left in the third quarter put the Saints in front 12-7.

The Purple Eagles weren’t done, though. Branieck scored their first goal of the third frame with 1:24 left. Rachel Crane followed at 13:37 of the fourth quarter, and Branieck struck again less than two minutes later to pull Niagara within 12-10. The teams remained scoreless until Logue broke through with 11 seconds left, sealing a 13-10 win.

The victory avenges the Saints’ 13-12 regular season loss to Niagara 16 days ago. It also puts them in a position to take a crack at dethroning the four-time defending conference champion Stags. 

MAAC Championship – (1) Fairfield v. (2) Siena, Sunday, May 8, 12 p.m. (ESPN+)