There will be a new national champion in NCAA Division II women's lacrosse after Le Moyne rallied in the second half to beat defending champ Adelphi 14-11. The Dolphins (20-1) will meet Regis, a 15-14 upset winner over Lindenwood, in one national semifinal next weekend.
The other semifinal will pit East Stroudsburg against Florida Tech. East Stroudsburg upset unbeaten West Chester 16-14 to advance to the semifinals for the first time in school history while Florida Southern, the 2016 national champion, beat Florida Tech 19-10.
Adelphi, which won a regular season matchup against Le Moyne before falling to the Dolphins in the Northeast 10 Conference championship game, appeared on its way to winning the rubber match with a three-goal halftime lead. The Panthers still maintained a two-goal lead with 15 minutes to go in the game and then Le Moyne's Bryanna Fazio took over.
Fazio, a junior attacker scored three straight goals in a span of just over two minute to give Le Moyne its first lead of the game and then Nicole Delany scored back-to-back goals to put the Dolphins up 13-10 with 9:09 left.
Adelphi's Kole Pollock scored at the 7:27 mark to end the Le Moyne run, but Fazio then tacked on an insurance goal with 6:15 left to seal up the victory.
Fazio scored five of her game-high six goals in the second half and she also had two assists in the game. Delany added four goals for LeMoyne.
Pollock led Adelphi (19-3) with four goals and Michele Scannell and Beth Ann Pierce each had hat tricks.
Le Moyne is headed to the semifinals for the fourth straight year and the sixth time in the last six years. Le Moyne beat Regis 17-11 during the regular season in a game played at US Lacrosse headquarters in Sparks, Md.
Regis Beats No. 1 Lindenwood for First Regional Championship
Regis is headed to the NCAA semifinals for the first time ever after upsetting top-ranked and unbeaten Lindenwood 15-14 in overtime. Jada Bonner's free position goal gave the Rangers the history victory.
WATCH IT AGAIN- Regis is the NCAA Midwest Regional Champions after taking down the No. 1 ranked team in the nation, handing Lindenwood their first loss of the season #Champs #RangerUp #RegisRangers pic.twitter.com/iG5zMeo0Uu
— Regis Rangers (@RegisRangers) May 13, 2018
Lindenwood (19-1) scored the first five goals of the game, and led by as many as seven goals in the first half. However, after the Lions took a 9-2 lead, Regis scored nine straight goals to take an 11-9 lead with 13:36 left in regulation. Lindenwood went nearly 27 minutes without a goal.
Bonner gave Regis a 14-12 lead with just 1:17 left, but Lindenwood scored two goals in the final minute of regulation to force overtime. Allison Hurley scored with 45 seconds left and Maria Johnson scored the equalizer with 19 seconds to play.
Lindenwood goaie Rachel Ortell made two saves in overtime, but Bonner cashed in the free position goal with 2:01 remaining in the second half of the first overtime period.
Sarah Myres led Regis (17-4) with four goals and two assists, scoring all four of her goals during Regis' key nine-goal run, including three straight goals to tie the score 9-9. Lauren Hurd and Bonner each scored three goals and Regis goalie Elle Crawford made 16 saves.
Hurley was one of four Lindenwood players to score three goals and also added three assists. Also netting hat tricks were Hannah Doughty, Sophie Buelow and Johnson. Ortell made 12 saves.
East Stroudsburg Stuns PSAC Rival West Chester
East Stroudsburg was doubled up by West Chester during the regular season and then got knocked out of the PSAC tournament in the semifinal round by Mercyhurst, but those are both distant memories after the Warriors won the regional championship for the first time in school history.
Atlantic Region Champs!! Here are the final seconds of Saturday’s win, as ESU knocks off previously unbeaten West Chester to advance to the Final Four pic.twitter.com/v9S2U3KIA9
— ESU Warriors (@ESUWarriors) May 12, 2018
East Stroudsburg (15-3) got revenge on Mercyhurst in the regional semifinals yesterday and then knocked off West Chester 16-14 on Saturday.
West Chester took an early 6-2 lead, but East Stroudsburg responded with four straight goals, one of four runs of at least three goals in the game for the Warriors.
The last run came with the game tied 13-13. Hana Cicerelle broke the tie at 11:50 to kick off a three-goal run and the Warriors held West Chester scoreless down the stretch until the final minute of play.
Cicerelle had a team-high seven points (3g, 4a), Chessie Rahmer had four goals and Tatyana Petteway came up huge for the Warriors with 16 saves.
Maggie Stella led West Chester (19-1) with four goals.
Florida Southern Dominates Second Half
Florida Southern was tied with Florida Tech at the half and trailed 8-7 early in the second half, but closed the game on an eight-goal run over the final 15 minutes to post a 19-10 win and return to the national semifinals.
The Mocs (20-1) got big offensive games form Shannon Gilfedder (7g, 2a), Emily Santoli (5g, 3a) and Meghan O'Brien (6a).
Caroline Dunleavy led Florida Tech (17-3) with three goals and Stephanie Stuart made 15 saves.
Scores
East Stroudsburg 16, West Chester 14
Florida Southern 19, Florida Tech 10
LeMoyne 14, Adelphi 11
Regis 15, Lindenwood 14
Semifinals
May 18 at University of Tampa
Florida Southern vs. East Stroudsburg, 11 a.m.
LeMoyne vs. Regis, 3 p.m.