5 Things to Know About the 2023 NCAA Division II Women’s Final Four

The first NCAA lacrosse national champion of the 2023 season will be crowned this weekend, as the Division II women’s tournament concludes with the semifinals and final at Key Stadium in Indianapolis. The chase begins Friday afternoon with the national semifinals (game times are EST).

4 p.m. — No. 1 West Chester (21-0) vs. No. 4 Grand Valley State (16-4)
7:30 p.m. — No. 2 Florida Southern (18-3) vs. No. 3 Pace (19-2)

Friday’s semifinal winners meet in Sunday’s championship game at 2 p.m.

Here are five things to know to help you prepare for the first championship weekend of the NCAA lacrosse season.

1. There’s a balance between returnees and newcomers at this party.

We have an even split among the four teams that advanced to this year’s national semifinals. West Chester and Florida Southern have both been a part of championship weekend previously, while Pace and Grand Valley State are first-timers to the final weekend of the season. As a sign of the growing parity in Division II, none of these four teams were among last year’s semifinalists.

West Chester is one of the traditional heavyweights in D-II women’s history, making its 16th NCAA tournament appearance in 2023, all under the guidance of head coach Ginny Martino, the all-time winningest women’s lacrosse coach in Division II. The Golden Rams have won the national championship twice (2002, 2008) and are making their 12th appearance in the semifinals.

Similarly, Florida Southern is back in the final four for the fourth time and making its first visit to the semis since a three-year run of championship game appearances from 2016-18. The Mocs won the title in 2016 and finished as national runner-up in both 2017 and 2018.

Meanwhile, Pace and Grand Valley State are both making their first semifinal appearances, although both have been contenders in recent years. Pace earned the No. 1 seed in the East Regional this year and defeated NE-10 rivals New Haven and Adelphi at home to punch its ticket to Indianapolis. GVSU was the No. 4 seed in the Midwest Region and defeated top-seeded Regis and second-seeded UIndy to reach this point.

2. Two have met, two have not.

While last week’s geographical regionals, by their very nature, presented many rematches from the regular season, that’s not always the case in the nationals semifinals. Friday’s opening game between Atlantic Region champion West Chester and Midwest Region champion Grand Valley State will be the first-ever meeting between the teams.

The second semifinal, however, does feature a rematch, as Florida Southern defeated visiting Pace 14-12 on March 12 in one of the better non-conference games of the season and the first-ever meeting between the teams. A 6-1 second quarter by FSC proved to be the difference in that game. That victory was part of an 8-0 start to the season for Florida Southern and also the last loss for Pace before starting a school-record 15-game winning streak that would run into early May.

3. These teams have firepower.

Combined, the four semifinalists feature 15 players named last week to the USA Lacrosse Magazine’s All-American first, second and third teams.

Pace, West Chester and Florida Southern all rank among the top five scoring teams in the nation, just above or below 18 goals per game.

Individually, Pace’s first team All-American attacker Aleya Corretjer is the top scorer among the four teams and ranks fourth in the nation with 111 points (51 G, 60 A), followed by teammate Emma Rafferty with 95 points (77 G, 18 A).

Florida Southern’s Jackie Stoller, a graduate transfer who spent four years at Lehigh, is the other 100-point scorer among the semifinalists, ranking eighth nationally with 104 points (65 G, 39 A).

West Chester’s trio of All-Americans — attacker Lindsay Monigle (39 G, 60 A) and midfielders Hannah Stanislawczyk (86 G, 12 A) and Keri Barnett (78 G, 19 A) — all rank among the national scoring leaders as well.

Three-time All-American midfielder Molly Bursinger leads Grand Valley State with 65 goals and 85 points. Her team-high 119 draw controls also helped the Lakers lead the nation in draw control percentage (65 percent), just ahead of second place Pace (63.6 percent).

4. These defenses are pretty formidable, too.

West Chester, Pace and Grand Valley State all rank among the top 11 teams nationally in scoring defense. The undefeated Golden Rams, with a unit anchored by first team All-American goalie Jessica Gorr, are second stingiest in the nation at 6.90 goals per game. Pace is seventh (7.71), and GVSU is 11th (8.85).

Pace and West Chester also rank among the top five nationally in caused turnovers, with both generating over 13 per game. Individually, Pace’s All-American midfielder Angelina Porcello ranks sixth nationally with 2.43 caused turnovers per game.

5. So, is there a favorite?

That’s hard to say, since there’s no real Cinderella in this group. All four teams have enjoyed outstanding seasons and have been top-10 teams in the national rankings. Their credentials are legit, and they all have momentum heading into this weekend.

As the only undefeated team remaining, West Chester might get a slight nod and can achieve something that hasn’t happened since 2014, the crowning of an undefeated national champion. The last undefeated D-II winner was Adelphi, which completed a 22-0 campaign in 2014.

Whether or not that happens, we’ll still have some history made this weekend. A championship by either Pace or Grand Valley State would be their first and a fitting capper to historic seasons for those programs. And a title by FSC would put Coach Kara Reber’s program in rare company, becoming one of just five teams with multiple D-II championships.