Last weekend, LeMoyne got past nemesis Adelphi. Today, the Dolphins got past the NCAA semifinal hurdle with a dominating 18-1 win over Regis (Colo.) University to advance to Sunday's NCAA Division II Women's Lacrosse Championship.
LeMoyne will face Florida Southern, a 20-14 winner over East Stroudsburg, on Sunday at 12 noon at the Univerity of Tampa. The game will be streamed live on NCAA.com.
Since moving to the NCAA Division II level in 2011, LeMoyne has reached the NCAA semifinals six times, but this will be the Dolphins first NCAA championship game appearance. The Dolphins, who have had five of their NCAA tournament runs end at the hands of Adelphi, had no trouble with Regis.
LeMoyne scored three times in the opening three minutes and led 6-0 before Regis scored what proved to be the Rangers only goal of the game. LeMoyne goalie Hannah George made 14 saves and held Regis scoreless for the final 45 minutes.
It was a far cry from a regular season meeting between the two schools played at US Lacrosse headquarters in early March. In that game, Regis led 7-6 at the half before LeMoyne rallied for a 17-11 win.
Sophomore midfielder Nicole Delany had a career-high eight points (6g, 2a) to lead LeMoyne (21-1). Bryanna Fazio (4g, 2a), Sidney Hall (2g, 2a) and Monica Sanna (1g, 4a) all had big games for an offense that posted 15 assists on its 18 goals. Fazio, the star of LeMoyne's quarterfinal win over Adelphi, also secured eight draw controls.
Lauren Hurd scored the only goal for Regis (17-5), which upset No. 1 ranked Lindenwood in last weekend's quarterfinal round.