D-II Women's Recap: Grand Valley State Stuns Top-Seeded Regis Again

The Division II women’s NCAA quarterfinals are set.

Getting to this point was anything but pure chalk. There were two games in which a three seed topped a two seed, and another in which a regional No. 1 seed fell.

Here’s a brief recap of Friday’s opening round of the Division II tournament.

ATLANTIC REGION

Winners play each other Sunday at noon Eastern in the quarterfinals.

(1) WEST CHESTER 21, (4) SETON HILL 8

West Chester’s dream of a perfect season lives on. The Golden Rams dispatched Seton Hill 21-8 behind six goals from Keri Barnett and five goals from Hannah Stanislawczyk, improving to 20-0 this spring. Lindsay Monigle and Meg O’Donnell each had three assists.

West Chester dominated in every area of the game, holding advantages on shots (37-15), ground balls (20-14) and draw controls (18-14).

(3) EAST STROUDSBURG 15, (2) KUTZTOWN 8

Third-seeded East Stroudsburg coasted to a 15-8 win over second-seeded Kutztown, getting five goals from star Emily Mitarotonda and hat tricks from Hannah Schiemer and Kiki Fitzpatrick. Riley DiFiore made 13 saves.

The Warriors led 5-1 after Madison Bagatta scored with 7:30 left in the second quarter, but Kutztown crept closer with consecutive goals by Olivia Eilbacher and Shannon Lake. East Stroudsburg went into the break ahead 7-3.

After Morgan Hurd scored for Kutztown to open the second half, ESU scored five straight to put the game out of reach.

EAST REGION

Winners play each other Sunday at noon Eastern in the quarterfinals.

(1) PACE 16, (4) NEW HAVEN 10

Pace made history Friday, winning its first-ever NCAA tournament game with a 16-10 victory over New Haven. It was a comeback win for the Setters, who trailed 4-0 to begin the game.

Aleya Corretjer had six goals and three assists, and Emma Rafferty netted a hat trick. Habby Buscemi made 13 saves for New Haven, which surrendered 11 straight goals after scoring the game’s first four.

(3) ADELPHI 16, (2) LE MOYNE 12

Conference rivals clashed in round one, and it was the third-seeded Adelphi Panthers that started fast and held off a late Le Moyne rally in a 16-12 win. Adelphi led 6-1 at the end of the first quarter, then Le Moyne got as close as 9-7 before Adelphi again pulled away.

Izzy Grant had six goals, Danielle Marino had one goal and four assists and Kelly-Ann McGrath had three goals and two assists. Madison Marchetta made 10 saves for Adelphi, which lost in the NE-10 semifinals to Le Moyne by a gaudy score of 17-6. The Panthers also fell to Le Moyne 14-8 on April 15.

MIDWEST REGION

Winners play each other Sunday at 2 p.m. Eastern in the quarterfinals.

(4) GRAND VALLEY STATE 15, (1) REGIS 11

For the second season in a row, Grand Valley State has ended Regis’ title hopes in the opening round of the tournament. The Lakers took the lead in the second quarter and never coughed it up in a 15-11 win.

Trailing 6-4 after Bailey Truex scored twice in a row for Regis, the top seed in the Midwest, Grand Valley State rattled off eight straight goals to lead 12-6. Regis could not come closer than four goals the rest of the way.

Molly Bursinger and Hailey Crittenden each netted a team-high four goals for GVSU, but it was the Lakers’ Maddy Champagne who posted a game-high in points with six (three goals, three assists).

(2) UINDY 14, (3) MARYVILLE 9

UIndy raced to a six-goal lead by halftime, and even though Maryville — one of the best stories of 2023 — cut the deficit to two goals with 10:13 remaining, the Greyhounds persevered for a 14-9 win. UIndy, the defending national champion, got four-goal efforts from Olivia Bladon and Joey Fowler.

Sydney Tiemann, Division II’s new single-season goals leader, had three goals and two assists for Maryville, which finishes its record-setting season at 17-3.

SOUTH REGION

Winners play each other Sunday at noon Eastern in the quarterfinals.

(1) TAMPA 15, (4) ROLLINS 13

Tampa secured its first-ever NCAA tournament win, riding three goals from Julia Kolderman and two-goal efforts from Emma McLoughlin, Lizzie Pierpont, Dani Waters, Riley McGettigan and Sarah Hinkle to a 15-13 win over Rollins.

The Spartans led 13-10 at the end of the third quarter, but Rollins got three goals from Caroline Bailey and tied it at 13. Kolderman scored the go-ahead goal with 3:35 remaining, and Waters added insurance with 24 seconds left.

(2) FLORIDA SOUTHERN 19, (3) FLAGLER 15

Florida Southern took a three-goal lead midway through the third quarter and never relinquished it, overcoming five-goal efforts from Lexie Morton and Ella Pinder of Flagler in a 19-15 win.

The Mocs got big performances from Jackie Stoller (four goals, one assist), Lizzy Lynch (two goals, three assists) and Madison Tare (one goal, five assists). Hailey O’Donoghue gave Florida Southern a 13-10 lead with 6:43 left in the third quarter, but a Flagler mini run made it 14-13 with 12:24 to play. Florida Southern scored five of the next six to seal it.