Kole Pollock scored four first-half goals to help Adelphi down previously unbeaten Regis (Colo.) 17-10 in the NCAA Division II Women’s Lacrosse Championship semifinal round on Friday at Grant Valley State (Mich.) University.
The victory was the 100th career win for Adelphi head coach Pat McCabe (100-9 in five seasons) and sends the Panthers to the national championship game for the 10th time in school history. Adelphi has won eight national titles, more than any other school in NCAA Division II women’s lacrosse, with the most recent title coming in 2017.
It’s opponent in the final will be another team with championship pedigree. West Chester held off Queens (N.C.) 10-9 to advance to the national final for the 10th time in school history. It’s the first championship game appearance for the Rams since 2012. West Chester last won the national title in 2008.
This will be the fourth time that Adelphi and West Chester will play for the NCAA championship. Adelphi won the previous three meetings in 2004, 2006 and 2010.
In Friday’s first game, Regis scored first, but Adelphi quickly took control with five straight goals — three of them by Pollock, who leads the Panthers with 77 goals this season.
Adelphi led 11-4 at the break, but Regis got back into the game with a four-goal run to open the second half, pulling to within 11-8 on Sarah Myres’ goal with 19 minutes to play.
Adelphi (18-3) then went on another run, scoring three straight goals and six of the next seven to earn its trip to the finals.
Alison Johnson helped lead the Adelphi offense with five assists and Pollock got help in the scoring column from Lena Riportella and Allison Stackpole with three goals each.
Ali Vanek led Regis (20-1) with five goals and Myres added three goals and two assists to finish the season with 94 goals.
PHOTO BY RICHARD PALAIKIS II
In the second game, West Chester jumped out to an early 5-0 lead just over 10 minutes into the game, but had a tough time putting Queens away.
Queens got to within 5-4 before West Chester’s Emily Schulze scored with just two seconds left in the first half to give the Golden Rams a 6-4 halftime lead.
Queens scored the first two goals of the second half to tie the game 6-6 and it was tied at 7-7 when West Chester scored three straight goals, taking a 10-7 lead on Devon Mela’s goal with just 5:47 remaining in the game.
The Royals weren’t done though. Hanna Scott and Alison Conn scored back-to-back goals to put Queens down just 10-9 with 2:53 still remaining.
West Chester goalie Julianne Clemens then came up big down the stretch. She made a nice save at her feet on Sydney Bracken’s free position shot with 1:49 to play. After the Rams failed to clear successfully, she made another save with 1:16 left and West Chester ran out the clock for the victory.
Tatum Altman, Sami Barnett and Maggie Stella each scored two goals for West Chester (20-2) and Clemens made 10 saves.
Rachel Perrett had three goals and an assist for Queens (19-3) and Kara Blanchard had a goal and four assists. Queens goalie Chase Brokaw made 12 saves.
Sunday’s championship game will be played at noon at Grand Valley State and will be streamed on ncaa.com.