West Chester, Pace Advance to NCAA Division II Women's Final

It’s down to the final two in Division II as West Chester and Pace advanced to Sunday’s national championship game with semifinal victories Friday. West Chester defeated Grand Valley State 18-10, while Pace throttled Florida Southern 22-11.

The story in the first game was West Chester’s graduate attacker Lindsey Monigle, who was a freshman the last time West Chester reached the national semifinals in 2019. That season, she was a role player who saw action in 16 games and contributed eight goals and two assists.

Now, four seasons later, Monigle is one of just two Golden Ram players remaining from that 2019 squad and has played a major role all season in leading No. 1-ranked West Chester (22-0) back to championship weekend. The All-American had a team-leading 60 assists and 99 points entering the semifinal against Grand Valley State and saved her best performance of the year for the big stage on Friday night.

Despite some early turnovers against GVSU’s backer defense, three early goals from All-American Hannah Stanislawczyk helped West Chester build a 6-5 lead midway through the second quarter. That’s when Monigle took over.

Quarterbacking WCU’s offense primarily from goal line extended, Monigle had a hand in the next 10 goals for West Chester, with five goals and five assists, as the Rams methodically pulled away.

Monigle started her run with 5:13 left in the second quarter, scoring her first of the day on a dodge from behind the cage. She then dished out three straight assists — two to Meg O’Donnell and one to Keri Barnett — to help the Golden Rams establish a 10-6 halftime edge.

After an early GVSU goal by Ashleigh Rothe to start the third quarter, Monigle picked up where she had left off. She scored her second of the game after intercepting a clearing pass and going straight to goal. She then assisted on Stanislawczyk’s fourth goal, and Keri Barnett’s second, and capped the quarter with her third goal of the game to build the lead to 14-7.

By the time she added her fifth goal, at 8:03 in the fourth quarter, the Rams were securely in control at 16-9 and eyeing the possibility of playing for the program’s third national championship on Sunday afternoon.

“I'm an assister. Everyone knows that, and that's what works against a zone. We did a good job today finding the pockets [in that zone],” said Monigle, who eclipsed the 100-point mark for the second straight season. “Everyone else did the work, I just hit them when they were open.”

Stanislawczyk and Meg O’Donnell finished with four goals each to supplement Monigle’s efforts, while Barnett added three. The Rams finished with a 34-26 edge in shots.

West Chester improved to 11-1 all-time in national semifinal games and will try to become the first undefeated D-II national champion since Adelphi in 2014.

“I'm just so proud of this group. Not only today, but all year long,” West Chester coach Ginny Martino said. “They are not shook by what the opponent is doing, or by the high-pressure situation that this game is and what it means. They did a really nice job today against an excellent team that is known for its comebacks.”

Grand Valley (16-5), which had its 13-game winning streak halted, was led by Hailey Crittenden and All-American midfielder Molly Bursinger, who each tallied three goals. The Lakers were making their first national semifinal appearance after capturing their third straight GLIAC tournament title in 2023.

The second game, a rematch of the March 12 meeting which FSC won 14-12, was originally scheduled to start at 7:30 pm Eastern time, but was delayed for two hours due to lightning in the area. Once the game was finally underway, there was no delay in Pace’s offense.

As they have done throughout their historic season, the Setters (20-2) dominated the first quarter, scoring seven straight goals and winning five straight draws to dominate possession and build an 8-2 lead. A first-quarter hat trick by senior Sydney Juvelier and two goals from All-Americann attacker Emma Rafferty sparked the run.

FSC withstood that early avalanche and regrouped enough in the second quarter to keep the game competitive. Four free-position goals by the Mocs, including the second and third of the day for Madison Tare, helped offset five combined goals by Pace’s Jolie Urraro and Angelina Porcello, sending the teams to halftime with Pace ahead 13-8.

The drama didn’t last long in the second half. With continued domination on draws, spearheaded by the program’s all-time draw control leader Kayla Conway, Pace scored the first five goals of the third quarter and finished with a 20-9 advantage by the end of the period. With two goals in the quarter, Aleya Corretjer became the fourth member of the Setters’ hat trick club.

Most of the final 21 minutes of the game were played with a running clock, with the Setters reaching the 20-goal mark for the ninth time this season. It was an impressive debut for a program that earned its first NCAA tournament and national semifinal appearance.

Urraro and Porcello each finished with five goals to lead Pace, while Juvelier and Corretjer added three apiece. The Setters finished with a 37-14 advantage in shots.

Florida Southern lost for the first time in four national semifinal appearances. The Mocs close the season with an 18-4 record.