Tampa’s Quick Start Leads to Its First Division II Women’s Championship

Tampa trailed 3-0 early in Thursday’s semifinal game against Regis, but the Spartans flipped that script in Saturday’s Division II final against Adelphi.

A quick start fueled by three goals from Sophi Wrisk in the first five minutes gave the Spartans an early advantage, which provided all the momentum they needed for an eventual 13-8 victory over Adelphi on a 90-degree afternoon at Showalter Stadium in Winter Park, Florida.

Tampa (19-3) claimed its first Division II national championship and became the fourth straight first-time champion in Division II women’s lacrosse.

“I think we played our best lacrosse at the right time of the year,” said Tampa’s Kelly Gallagher, the only head coach in the 11-year history of the Spartans’ program. “We’ve been peaking at the right time, and I think the momentum from Thursday’s semifinal win just carried over for us into today’s game.” 

Gallagher also noted that practicing from 12-2 p.m. every day during the season may have helped prepare her players for Florida’s mid-day heat.

“We’ve been practicing at that time for 10 years now, knowing that the NCAA final is played at noon,” she said. “It’s always hot in May, no matter where we are in the country. So that’s been my ‘why’ we practice at that time. I’m very excited that no one can question that anymore.” 

Wrisk, a junior midfielder who began her career at Maryland, owned the first half, scoring all five of her goals to help Tampa build an 8-3 halftime lead. The five-goal deficit was Adelphi’s largest of the season.

“Sophi just gets the job done,” Gallagher said. “She set the tone for us today, and when one person gets hot like that, it helps everyone.”

All-American attacker Sarah Hinkle, Tampa’s all-time leader in goals and points, then carried the offense in the second half, netting all four of her goals after intermission. Sophomore Peyton Howell assisted on all four of Hinkle’s goals and finished with a game-high five assists and six points.

Tampa’s complete performance was evident at both ends of the field. While the offense was efficient, putting 19 of its 25 shots on goal, the defense was equally stellar from start to finish.

Led by defenders Lexi Waters, Grace Gilmore, Delaney Stahrr and Alyssa Romano, the unit registered seven caused turnovers and kept Adelphi out of rhythm for much of the afternoon. The Panthers were held scoreless for a stretch of 28 minutes across the middle two quarters.

“Our defense has been so solid and steady all season long, and they were relentless today,” Gallagher said. “Everyone did their part.”

Uncharacteristically, the Panthers were also plagued throughout the day by numerous unforced errors, with dropped passes and mishandled balls that added up to 17 total turnovers. The Panthers converted just one of six free position shots.

Graduate goalie Alex Walling, one of five Spartans named to the NCAA’s All-Tournament team, finished with six saves, including three impressive stops in the first quarter that allowed Tampa to build its early lead.

“We knew it was going to be a grind, and we just focused on hitting our little goals, like having a shutout quarter, which we hit, and keeping the opponent to under nine goals, which we also hit,” said Walling, named last week to USA Lacrosse’s All-America team. “Our defense was amazing today and it was definitely a team effort.”  

Wrisk, selected as the tournament’s most outstanding player, opened the scoring less than two minutes into the game, scoring from in close on an assist by Cece Colombo. Wrisk made it 2-0 less than a minute later on another inside goal from Howell’s first assist of the day.  Before the game was five minutes old, Wrisk had recorded her eighth hat trick of the season, pushing the margin to 3-0 at 10:12. Tampa never looked back.

Hinkle, Howell, and Grace Colombo joined Wrist and Walling on the all-tournament team for Tampa.

Leading by five at halftime, Tampa scored four of the first five goals in the second half, all by Hinkle, to build its largest lead of the game at 12-4 with 10:21 remaining.

Alexandra Leggio finished with four goals to lead Adelphi, and was one of three Panther players named to the all-tournament team, along with Courtney Carollo and Kelly-Ann McGrath.

Adelphi finishes the year 19-4 overall and made its 11th championship game appearance, the most by any Division II women’s team. The Panthers lost in the championship game for just the second time.

“We just didn’t have it today, from start to finish,” said Adelphi coach Pat McCabe. “We got a lot of shots, but we just weren’t able to finish them, especially early. We’ve been a slow-starting team for a lot of the year. It’s not a good thing, but we’ve been able to play through it. Today, we never really got into the game. Something was missing.”

With Saturday’s victory, Tampa finishes the year with 13 wins over nationally- ranked opponents, and avenged one of its three losses during the season, having lost at home to Adelphi back on February 28. The Spartans closed the year by winning 17 of their last 18 games, including their last 11 games, earning their first final four appearance, and hoisting their first NCAA championship trophy.

“Our confidence continued to grow throughout the season,” Gallagher said. “I think our schedule helped to prepare us for the postseason and we believed that we belonged. The players made this happen. We tell them all the time that player-led teams win championships.”