Northwestern Survives, Detroit Mercy Upsets CMU in Conference Semifinals

In a year defined by upsets, seeing fifth-seeded Johns Hopkins top No. 1 Northwestern would track.

It was trending in that direction late in the third quarter. But ultimately, the Wildcats staved off the upset with a 13-12 win and will play for their second-straight Big Ten tournament crown Saturday.

Madison Taylor tallied five goals and an assist, willing the Wildcats back from a late deficit. Erin Coykendall chipped in three goals and two assists. Ava Angello posted four goals and one assist for the Blue Jays, who stand to get an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.

The Blue Jays, which twice trailed by five in the second quarter, scored the last four of the last five goals of the first half to trim the margin to 9-7.

Though it was the Wildcats’ Coykendall who tallied the last goal of the second quarter, it was Hopkins who came out of the locker room with momentum. Charlotte Smith struck first from the 8-meter. Ashley Mackin evened the score at 8-8 at 8:39 of the third and gave the Blue Jays their first lead of the afternoon on a feed from Angello at 6:55.

But Taylor put the foot on the gas with three straight goals, the last of which put Northwestern up 12-10 with 11:14 to play. The two teams remained scoreless for the next five-plus minutes until Taylor Hoss again made it a one-goal game at the 6:07 mark, but Taylor set up Coykendall up for a goal to push the margin to 12-10 at 3:31.

Jordan Carr won the ensuing draw, and Campbell Case was good for a ground-ball pickup on a Hoss miss. She later scored on a feed from Maeve Barker to bring Hopkins to within 13-12 with 2:45 left.

The waning minutes saw a flurry of activity. Northwestern won the draw, but an Izzy Scane free position went wide and two Dylan Amonte shots got stuffed by former Wildcat-turned-Hopkins netminder Madison Doucette. But it was Northwestern’s Molly Laliberty that got the game-saving stop on an Abbey Hurlbrink last-second shot to preserve the win.

The Wildcats will play Penn State in the Big Ten championship game Saturday. The Nittany Lions scored eight unanswered third-quarter goals in a 17-8 semifinal victory over Rutgers. Kelly MacKinney paced the offense with two goals and four assists.

HAVE MERCY

Playing in its first postseason game since 2019, fourth-seeded Detroit Mercy upended top-seeded Central Michigan 11-10 to earn a spot in the MAC championship game.

Cat Kopchia tallied three goals and two assists, including the game-winner with six seconds left. Leah Bodnar of Detroit Mercy and Skye DePrado of CMU tied for the game high with four goals.

Detroit Mercy raced out to a 6-2 lead in the first quarter, but Central Michigan scored the only two goals of the second to pull to within 6-4. A back-and-forth second half ensued and included three ties, the latest coming when DePrado scored player-up with less than five minutes to play.

But Central Michigan never took the lead, and Kopchi scored on a player-up advantage to send the Titans to their first postseason win since 2016, when they were members of the ASUN.

They’ll play second-seeded Robert Morris, which defeated Eastern Michigan for the second straight week, for the MAC title and automatic bid Saturday.

THRILLING PHINISH

Laura Ellis’ goal with five seconds remaining capped a come-from-behind 10-9 win for top-seeded Jacksonville against Liberty in the ASUN semifinals Friday.

In a rematch of the last four championship games, the Dolphins found themselves down by three in the fourth quarter but charged back with a game-ending 4-0 run.

Jacksonville will face second-seeded Coastal Carolina on Saturday. The Chanticleers appeared to be in complete control with a 13-6 lead at the end of the third quarter but ultimately needed to hold on for the 13-11 win over Lindenwood.

TOP SEEDS ADVANCE IN BIG EAST

Olivia Penoyer’s 10-point afternoon included eight assists and a 19-7 win for top-seeded Denver over fourth-seeded Villanova in the semifinal round of the Big East tournament. Julia Gilbert and Sloane Kipp each scored five goals.

The game was never in doubt for Denver. The Pioneers led Villanova 7-1 by the end of the first quarter and 12-4 at the break.

Already undefeated regular-season conference champions for the fifth straight season, the Pios will have an opportunity to claim their fourth consecutive Big East tournament title against second-seeded UConn. The two teams also met in last year’s tournament final.

UConn used a strong start and timely scoring to hold off Georgetown 13-11.

Annie Shaffer scored three straight goals to close the first frame, sparking an 8-0 that put the Huskies in front 10-4 at the break.

Then, it was the Hoyas’ turn. Georgetown scored seven of the first eight goals of the second half, tying the game at 11 when Maley Starr tallied her third goal of the afternoon with 10:10 left.

But that was the last of Georgetown’s scoring. A Rayea Davis gave the Huskies the lead back with under 10 minutes to play, and Susan Lafountain added one for good measure at 6:56.

KITTREDGE’S HEROICS LIFT SACRED HEART

Sixth-seeded Wagner erased a four-goal second-half deficit to take a 10-9 lead on top-seeded and defending tournament champion Sacred Heart, but Emma Kittredge found Maggie Araneo with two minutes left and scored the game-winner with six seconds remaining to book Sacred Heart’s trip back to the Northeast Conference finals with an 11-10 win.

Araneo’s equalizer was one of four goals on the day for the sophomore attacker. She also chipped in two assists.

Sacred Heart will face second-seeded LIU, a 14-7 winner over Stonehill, for the NEC championship Saturday.

STONY BROOK, LOYOLA FLEX OFFENSIVE MUSCLE

Stony Brook and Loyola — the top seeds and overwhelming favorites in the CAA and Patriot League, respectively — demonstrated their offensive might Thursday.

Kailyn Hart scored seven goals and Ellie Masera had three goals and five assists to lead Stony Brook to a 17-4 win over Elon. The Seawolves went on an 11-0 run spanning the second, third and fourth quarters. Masera added nine draws to her line.

Stony Brook will play second-seeded Drexel, which defeated Hofstra 18-9, for the CAA title. Corinne Bednarik set CAA tournament records with 12 points and nine assists for the Dragons.

Loyola recorded the first shutout in Patriot League tournament history and set a new record for margin of victory, blowing out Lehigh 18-0.

Seeking their fifth straight Patriot League championship, the Greyhounds will play Navy for the title Saturday. The Midshipmen breezed past Holy Cross 19-5.

Florida, JMU Set for AAC Rematch

All signs pointed to a Florida-James Madison rematch in the American and the conference frontrunners held up their end of the deal by dispatching rather easily of their semifinal opponents.

The top-seeded Gators defeated Vanderbilt 17-8 behind Magi Hall's seven points (four goals, three assists) and Emily Heller's five goals.

The second-seeded Dukes downed Temple 16-7. Maddie Epke (three goals, four assists) and Isabella Peterson (four goals, two assists) combined for 13 points.

THE FINAL PAC-12 FINAL

It will be Colorado vs. Stanford for the crown in this, the last Pac-12 women’s lacrosse championship.

The Buffaloes beat USC for the first time since 2021, using a strong defensive performance to down the Trojans 12-9.

The Cardinal, meanwhile, won in a shootout. They beat Arizona State 20-15.