Last weekend featured a wild ACC quarterfinal round and bid-stealing performance from first-time A-10 champion Saint Joseph’s. Yesterday, Oregon stunned Colorado, potentially bursting the Buffs’ NCAA tournament bubble.
What did the women’s lacrosse world do for an encore? With apologies to those who love a good underdog story, Thursday was mostly chalk as several top seeds prevailed in the semifinals. Here’s how it all went down.
MOUNT SAINT MARY’S PREVAILS IN OVERTIME
Mount Saint Mary’s will have a chance to defend its NEC title Saturday after a double-clutch performance from Christina Haspert. The sophomore scored the game-tying goal in the fourth quarter and the winner in overtime as the second-seeded Mountaineers upended third-seeded Wagner 12-11. Haspert finished with five points on three goals and two assists, and Dani Donoghue poured in four goals and added an assist for Mount Saint Mary’s (14-4).
Stefani Peluso and Kasey Dorney led Wagner (8-10) with three points each, and Lauren DiStefano made 11 stops.
Mount Saint Mary’s appeared to be in control, building an 8-2 lead in the first half and 9-3 advantage when Donoghue scored at 13:23 of the third quarter. But the Seahawks stormed back, using an 8-1 run to take their first lead of the game on a Dorney goal with 5:03 left in regulation. But Haspert broke free from behind the cage to knot the score at 11 with 4:11 remaining in the fourth quarter. In overtime, Haspert took a feed from freshman Katie Siverson in front and scored to lift the Mountaineers.
The Mount will battle its co-regular season champion in top-seeded Bryant. The Bulldogs, who are in their final year with the NEC before moving to the America East, advanced to their seventh NEC title game in program history by blowing past fourth-seeded LIU (6-12) 20-6. Kenna Kaut scored five goals, and Skylar Simmonds added four as the Bulldogs improved to 13-4 overall.
NO. 7 FLORIDA BACK IN AAC FINAL
No. 7 Florida will have the chance to three-peat as American Athletic Conference champions Saturday after blowing out East Carolina 17-8. Emma LoPinto led Florida (14-4) with four goals and one assist, while Maggi Hall chimed in with four goals. Caroline Kimel tallied three goals and two assists for East Carolina (9-9).
Just as they did when the two teams met last weekend, the Gators raced out to a large early lead. Maggi Hall scored twice on a game-opening 6-0 run. Leah Bestany scored ECU’s first goal of the game from the 8-meter, but Emerson Cabrera scored once and Hall struck again to give the Gators an 8-2 advantage after one. LoPinto found the back of the cage four times in the second quarter, while Florida held ECU scoreless to take a 14-2 lead into the locker room at halftime that proved insurmountable.
The second AAC semifinal was one for the ages. Third-seeded Vanderbilt needed an overtime goal from offensive staple Gabby Fornia to down second-seeded Temple 11-10, setting up a date with the Gators.
Fornia was an absolute force at the end of the game, scoring her team’s final four goals. Down 10-8 with 2:56 left in regulation, Vanderbilt (10-6) leaned on its star. Fornia scored with 2:18 left to put her side down one, then scored the equalizer with 11 seconds to go.
In overtime, Temple won the opening draw but Paige Gunning made one of her 11 saves, resulting in a successful clear and the game-winning goal.
LOYOLA, NAVY WIN BIG IN PATRIOT LEAGUE SEMIS
Livy Rosenzweig tallied five goals and two assists and became the fourth player in program history to hit 200 career points as No. 6 Loyola breezed by Lehigh 19-5 in the Patriot League semifinals. Rosenzweig also corralled a game-high seven draws and caused two turnovers, while Jillian Wilson tallied a hat trick for Loyola (17-1). Emma Eberhardt recorded two goals and one assist for Lehigh (9-9).
Loyola took control as soon as the opening whistle sounded. Katie Detwiler got the draw, and the Greyhounds took advantage of the quick possession when Sam Fielder found Elli Kluegel for a goal 20 seconds into the game. Goals by Sydni Black and Rosenzweig put the Greyhounds in front 3-0 before 90 seconds had gone by. Jillian Wilson scored at 8:57. With 4:33 remaining in the first quarter, Catie Corolla found Rosenzweig. Rosenzweig finished, notching her 200th point and putting the Greyhounds up 5-0.
The barrage continued. Rosenzweig would score three more times in the first half, including one at 2:29 of the second quarter that capped a game-opening 12-0 run. Katia Carnevale got Lehigh on the board for the first time with five seconds left in the half. Loyola outscored Lehigh 7-4 over the final 30 minutes.
The win earned the Greyhounds the right to play for their third consecutive league title. They’ll face third-seeded Navy, which beat Army 16-6. Like Loyola, the Mids (15-4) jumped out to a massive early lead. Reagan Roelofs and Gil Eby scored twice during an 8-0 Navy run to open the game that essentially secured the win. The Mids led 11-1 at the break and never looked back.