It’s been quite a bounceback season for the Queens University women’s lacrosse team. After finishing 11-8 last year and missing out on the NCAA postseason for the first time in three years, the Royals have returned with a vengeance in 2019.

The season started slowly, with a three-goal loss at Tampa in the opener, and also included a two-goal loss at home to Florida Southern on March 10. Two months later, that remains the last blemish on Queens’ record, as it breezed through the South Atlantic Conference and claimed their fifth straight SAC title.

Due in part, however, to those two early in-region losses, the Royals received the fourth seed in last week’s NCAA South Regional, drawing regional host and Sunshine State Conference champion Tampa in the opening game. Queens avenged its season-opening setback by upsetting the top-seeded Spartans 16-15. Two days later, the Royals added a second upset, slipping past third-seeded Rollins 14-13 on senior Hanna Scott’s overtime game-winner.

With the two regional victories in a span of 48 hours, Queens (19-2) muscled its way into the national semifinals for the first time in program history. The Royals bring a school-record 16-game winning streak into Friday’s 3 p.m. match-up against No. 3 ranked West Chester in Allendale, Mich.

“Setting the final four as one of our goals might have been a reach, but I believed that we could do it,” said third-year coach Clare Short.  “We have worked hard and believed in ourselves this entire season.”

The high-scoring Royals average 19 goals per game, second-highest in the nation, and lead the country with 29.4 shots on goal per game. Nevertheless, it was the biggest defensive play of their season that helped secure the quarterfinal win over Rollins.

With the score tied in the closing seconds, junior goalie Chase Brokaw’s saved a free-position shot by Rollins’ All-American Kallie German that preserved the tie and sent the game into overtime, setting the stage for Scott’s game-winner.

“I think I kind of blacked out at that moment, but I’ve gone back and watched it several times,” Short said. “Kallie is a great player and usually makes those 8-meter shots. It was an incredible save by Chase.”

Junior Ally Blood, the SAC Player of the Year, and Scott, the program’s all-time scoring leader with 185 goals and 324 points, lead the prolific offense. But there are plenty of other weapons on a team that features seven players with 30 or more goals this season.

The Royals have gone from not being ranked in the preseason to being one of the last four standing.

"We’ve been in the underdog role all year and in truth, we kind of like that position,” Short said. “We have nothing to lose, right? We’re just having fun.”

By contrast, West Chester, also 19-2, is making its 11th appearance in the national semifinals, but its first since 2012. The Golden Rams have won the NCAA championship twice during head coach Ginny Martino’s 22-year tenure, lifting the trophy in 2002 and 2008.

WCU captured its 22nd Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference championship, and won the Atlantic Regional last weekend with lopsided victories at home over Seton Hill and East Stroudsburg.

West Chester is 3-0 all-time against Queens, including a narrow 13-12 victory in the last meeting between the teams during the 2018 regular season. 

Friday’s first semifinal game, slated to start at 11 a.m., features No. 1 ranked Regis (20-0) against No. 5 Adelphi (17-3).

Regis is the last undefeated team in the nation and earned its second straight final four berth by winning the Midwest Regional. The Rangers defeated UIndy 17-14 in the first round, and followed with a 16-14 victory over RMAC rival Colorado Mesa in Sunday’s quarterfinal game. 

The Rangers never trailed against Mesa, and led by as many as five goals on three separate occasions, but had to hold off a late Mavericks’ rally to secure the first 20-win season in program history. 

Adelphi is the eight-time NCAA Division II national champion, including titles in 2015 and 2017 under the guidance of current head coach Pat McCabe. The Panthers claimed their spot in Allendale by winning the East Regional. 

Following a 16-3 first round win over LIU Post, Adelphi eliminated defending NCAA champion Le Moyne, 12-11, with All-American Kole Pollock delivering the game-winner with four seconds remaining in the second overtime. Adelphi rallied twice from four-goal deficits in its quarterfinal win, including the last four goals in regulation to force the sudden death. 

Adelphi has won both prior meetings against Regis.
 

NCAA DIVISION II SEMIFINALS
May 17 in Allendale, Mich.

Adelphi (17-3) vs. Regis (20-0) - 11 a.m. (NCAA.com)
West Chester (19-2) vs. Queens (19-2) - 3 p.m. (NCAA.com)