We’re going to have a title game rematch on Sunday between the defending champions, Florida Southern, and the team it shocked in last year’s final, Adelphi.
The second game of the Division II women’s semifinals doubleheader came down to the wire, with Florida Southern narrowly edging Lindenwood 13-12 to force a championship game matchup with Adelphi. Meghan O’Brien scored the game-winning goal with 54 seconds left, and goalie Taylor Gillis saved a Lindenwood shot with eight seconds left to seal the win.
Florida Southern came out of the gates hot, scoring the first three goals to jump out to an early lead. Shannon Mazza, Kendall Kerge and Shannon Gilfedder provided the goals in the first five minutes of the game.
Lindenwood responded with its own three-goal rally to tie the game at 3-3. It took 10 minutes, but three different scorers helped the Lions get back into the game.
The teams went back and forth through the rest of the first half, with Florida Southern getting late goals from Dani Bursinger and O’Brien to take the 7-5 lead into halftime.
Florida Southern boosted its lead to 9-6 out of the break, but Lindenwood answered to tie the game again. The Mocs again took the lead at 11-9, and then 12-10, but the Lions came roaring back.
In the matter of a minute, Morgan Judd and Hannah Doughty scored for Lindenwood to erase the 12-10 lead with four minutes remaining. Florida Southern won the ensuing draw control and held the ball until O’Brien’s goal with 54 seconds left.
Lindenwood’s Sophie Buelow, who finished with four goals, won the next draw control, but Judd’s shot was saved to end the game.
Adelphi Does Its Job
Adelphi is headed back to the Division II national championship game, thanks to a second half rally that fueled the 11-7 victory over Le Moyne in the first game on Friday. Jacqueline Jahelka scored four goals, including three during a 4-0 second half run, to help the Panthers advance to their fourth consecutive national championship game.
Adelphi scored the game’s first two goals, but Le Moyne answered with three of its own to take the early lead. Nicole Delany had one of her three goals during the first-half run. However, the Panthers responded with another three-goal run, with the final goal coming with seven seconds left in the half to help them take a 5-3 lead.
Le Moyne came out of halftime strong, scoring the first three goals out of the break to regain the lead. Delany had two goals during the run that helped the Dolphins take the momentum with less than 20 minutes left.
Michelle Scannell tied the game at 6-6, and then Jahelka took over. She score three straight goals in just over five minutes to give Adelphi the 9-6 lead with 6:34 left. That was enough breathing room for the Panthers, who added two goals from Casey Zalewski to seal the win.