What a day. Regular-season finales, conference tournament matchups and some all-around great lacrosse highlighted Saturday’s Division I women’s slate.

Let's jump into the results.

MARYLAND CLAIMS BIG TEN TITLE OUTRIGHT

No. 3 Maryland is the outright Big Ten champion for the sixth time in seven years. The Terps, who upended reigning champion Northwestern last weekend, downed No. 19 Michigan 13-8 Saturday in Ann Arbor.

Eloise Clevenger posted a career-best six points and four goals, while Libby May finished with two goals and two assists, and Aurora Cordingley had two goals and an assist for Maryland (15-1, 6-0 Big Ten). Emily Sterling had 12 saves. The Terps will play fourth-seeded Johns Hopkins Friday in the Big Ten semifinals hosted by Rutgers.  

The Wolverines (10-6, 2-4), who needed a win to get into the Big Ten tournament, will wait and see if they get an at-large bid into the NCAA tournament. Caitlin Muir tallied one goal and four assists.

The Terps’ attack moved the ball through well through Michigan’s zone defense, which entered the weekend ninth in goals allowed per game (8.53), in the early going. Maryland’s first three goals were assisted, starting when Shaylan Ahearn hit a charging Clevenger for a score at 12:44 of the first quarter. Muir evened the score at 1-1, but the Terps responded when Clevenger found May in front at 9:57. May played the role of feeder when she assisted a Cordingley goal with 5:17 left in the first quarter.

Cordingley bounced one past Arielle Weismann for an unassisted score to open the second quarter, and May followed with a free position goal at 11:59 to extend the Terps’ lead to 5-1. May and Clevenger played give-and-go, with Clevenger finishing with 10:20 left in the first half. Meanwhile, the Michigan offense stalled, failing to get a shot off in the second quarter until Mead took one at the 7:43 mark, which Sterling saved.

Muir broke up the 5-0 run with a goal at 5:43, but Victoria Hensh buried a free position with 4:04 until the break to extend the lead back to five, 7-2. Mead closed the gap to 7-3 with a shot from the 8-meter with 45 seconds on the clock.

Maryland grabbed momentum early in the third quarter, with Hannah Leubecker and Clevenger finding the back of the cage at 13:23 and 13:10. Michigan scored two of the next three, getting within four when Kaley Thompson dodged through the Maryland defense and scored to make it 10-6 at 4:12. But that’s as close as the Wolverines would get. Shannon Smith took a feed from Cordingley and scored less than a minute later, and Leubecker found the back of the cage with seven seconds left in the quarter.

The pace of the game slowed in the fourth. Neither team scored until Mead broke through at 6:28, but Grace Griffin’s tally at 5:03 put Maryland ahead 13-7. Michigan’s Kelly Poole scored the final goal of the afternoon.

NO. 12 PRINCETON CLINCHES IVY REGULAR-SEASON TITLE

For the seventh time in a row but the first time since the pandemic began, No. 12 Princeton is the Ivy League regular-season champion. The Tigers (12-3, 7-0 Ivy League) handed Yale (10-5, 6-1) its first Ancient Eight loss of the season, 17-14.  

Kyla Sears turned in a seven-point day on five goals and two assists, while Grace Tauckus added four goals for Princeton. Sam Fish made a season-high 17 saves.

Olivia Penoyer led Yale with three goals and two assists. The Bulldogs will be the second seed in next weekend’s Ivy League championship tournament.  

Princeton never trailed, but the momentum swung in both directions. The teams scored in three-goal spurts from the end of the second quarter to the beginning of the fourth. Sears scored twice, and Kate Mulham buried a shot from the 8-meter to give Princeton a 10-6 lead at the half.

But Yale swung back to open the third quarter with goals from Jenna Collignon, Penoyer and Sophie Straka to get within one, 10-9, at 10:42. Tauckus scored at 9:33 of the third quarter, and Sears added a pair to give the Tigers a 13-9 advantage. One from Fallon and two from Penoyer made it a one-goal game, 13-12, with 5:07 remaining in the third quarter.

Nina Montes scored the final goal of the quarter, and Kari Buonanno and Tauckus opened the fourth with tallies to widen the gap back to four, 16-12, with 6:32 to play — an insurmountable lead for Yale.

MANHATTAN WINS TRIPLE-OVERTIME THRILLER

Down 10-4 to No. 3 Niagara at halftime, No. 6 Manhattan looked down and out.

But the game is 60 minutes long — or, in this case, 69:31. Manhattan stormed back to beat Niagara 16-15 in the opening round of the MAAC tournament.

Grace Lipponer finished with six points, including the game-tying and winning goals, and Meghan Rodino scored six times for Manhattan (11-7, 4-4 MAAC). The Jaspers will play No. 1 Monmouth in the conference semifinal round Friday.  

Niagara’s Lois Garlow led all scorers with eight points on six goals and two assists. The Purple Eagles’ season ends at 9-9 overall and 5-3 in conference play.

Manhattan came alive in the third quarter, using a 6-1 run to climb to within one, 11-10, when Meaghan Rodino scored at 1:31. A pair of Niagara goals in the final minute of the quarter put the Purple Eagles up 13-10.

The Jaspers didn’t relent. Ava Fernandes capped a 3-1 run and tied the score at 14 with 7:51 left in regulation. Garlow got the lead back for Niagara with 3:41 on the clock. With 5.9 seconds to play, Lipponer broke free of TaNia Cunningham and scored to tie it at 15.

Michelle Messenger stopped three shots for Niagara in the opening six minutes of overtime, and Manhattan’s Ashley Gambardella turned back a pair. Niagara’s Lexi Carne had a chance with 1:51 left in the second overtime, but her free position shot hit the post. With six seconds on the clock, Lipponer fired a shot that went wide. But she got redemption moments later. Andrea Liotta won the draw to start the third overtime, and Lipponer charged towards the cage and buried a shot 31 seconds in.

FURMAN, WINTHROP MOVING ON IN BIG SOUTH TOURNAMENT

No. 3 Furman jumped out to an early lead and held off No. 6 Winthrop for a 16-13 win. The Paladins (8-7, 7-2 Big South) will face No. 2 Mercer in the Big South semifinals Friday at 1 p.m.

Hannah Dintino led Furman with five points on four goals and an assist, and Anna Roser scored four times. Lilly Rathbun made 11 saves.

Alyssa Angelo netted a hat trick and added two assists for Winthrop (4-14, 3-6).

Furman looked like it had the game in hand, not allowing Winthrop to score consecutive goals for more than 25 minutes. The Paladins used a 4-0 second-quarter run to build an 11-4 lead when Anna Roser scored her third of the day with 6:26 until halftime. But the Eagles scored the next four, and Katie Witmer closed the gap to 11-8 before the break.

Winthrop outscored Furman 4-3 in the third quarter to pull to within two, 14-12, on a Lauren Asher goal with 34 seconds remaining. The two teams traded goals in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter, with Meaghan Beal finding the back of the cage for Furman at 12:42 and Angelo doing the same for Winthrop at 10:36. The game remained scoreless for more than six minutes until Dintino broke through to put the Paladins ahead 16-13 with 4:29 to go in what was the final goal of the day.

In the second game, Jada Preston’s eight-point day and game-winning goal with 20 seconds left lifted No. 5 Gardner-Webb over No. 4 Campbell 15-14. Eilish Gately chimed in with two goals and three assists for Gardner-Webb (10-8, 5-4), who will play No. 1 High Point Friday.

Sam Bischoff had three goals and three assists for Campbell (10-7, 7-2). The game was close throughout.

Bischoff put Campbell ahead 10-8 with an unassisted tally at 3:58 of the third quarter. But the ‘Dogs responded with a 5-0 run and took a 13-10 advantage when Gately found Preston for a goal with 8:51 to play. But Campbell didn’t go quietly. The Camels scored three of the next four, evening the score at 14 on a Lexi McDaniel score at 1:29. But Lauren Deaver circled around the cage and fed Preston on the doorstop for the game-winner.  

NOTABLE

• No. 9 Florida is still the only team to win the American Athletic Conference regular-season title. The Gators, who moved to the conference when it began sponsoring lacrosse in 2019, beat East Carolina 16-4. Florida (13-4, 5-0 AAC) dominated from start to finish, racing out to a 10-0 lead and winning 10 of 12 draw controls in the first half and never looked back. Florida freshman Emma LoPinto led the game with a hat trick, while Ashley Gonzalez tallied two goals and one assist. Ellie Bromley, Erin Gulden, Sophia Locicero and Carli Johnston scored unassisted goals for ECU (9-8, 2-3). The two teams will meet again in the AAC semifinals Thursday.

• Wagner upset Bryant, ruining the Bulldogs’ bid for an outright regular-season NEC title. Bryant (11-4, 7-1 NEC) will still be the top seed in the NEC tournament, though it shares the regular-season crown with Mount Saint Mary’s and will play LIU in the semifinals on Thursday. Third-seeded Wagner (8-9, 6-2) will play second-seeded Mount in a rematch of last year’s conference championship game won by the Mountaineers. Ally Turner (three goals, one assist) and Kasey Dorsey (four goals) led Wagner, while Bryant’s Cassidy Burns tallied game-highs of five points and four assists.  

• Cornell punched its ticket to the Ivy League championship tournament by beating Dartmouth 16-13. Cornell raced out to a 7-3 lead, but Dartmouth scored three in a row to get within one, 7-6, when Sophie Alois scored with 5:20 left in the first half. The Big Red responded by scoring the next four, taking a 12-7 lead on a Sophie Ward goal at 12:47 of the third quarter. Katie Castiello paced Cornell (8-7, 4-3) with six points on two goals and four assists, and Amanda Cramer scored four goals. Katina Christensen led Dartmouth (3-12, 1-6) with three goals and two helpers.

• Harvard clinched the fourth and final spot in the Ancient Eight tournament by edging Brown 15-14. The Crimson (7-7, 4-3) trailed 14-12 with 7:06 to play but used a 3-0 run over the span of 71 seconds, starting when Grace Hulsander scored with 5:22 left. Caroline Mullahy followed at 5:01, and Callie Hem’s free position goal wound up being the game-winner. Hulsander had five goals and two assists, and Hem posted four goals and one assist. Erin Tucker made 11 saves and Sophia DeRosa scored five goals and dished two assists for Brown (7-8, 3-4).

• No. 11 James Madison beat Drexel 18-12 in its final game in the CAA. The Dukes finished the regular season 13-4 overall and 6-0 in league play but are ineligible for the CAA tournament because of conference realignment. Isabella Peterson (five goals, one assist) and Katie Checkosky (one goal, five assists) paced James Madison’s offense. Karson Harris scored six goals for Drexel (10-7, 4-2). The No. 2 Dragons will host the CAA championship and play No. 3 Hofstra Friday.

• Like James Madison, Stony Brook left its conference on top. The Seawolves (14-2, 6-0 America East) are banned from the America East tournament, which they have won a record eight-straight times. But they completed a perfect final season by blowing by rival Albany (7-7. 5-1), the team it beat each year in the finals 16-5. The win is Stony Brook’s 60th in a row in conference play, the longest winning streak of any team in any sport. Their last loss to a conference opponent came April 26, 2014, at Vermont. The game was never in doubt. Stony Brook tallied the first five goals of the game and got running time when Kailyn Hart scored on a free position with 4:04 left in the third quarter. Hart led the game with five goals, and Jaden Hampel contributed three goals and two assists. Ava Poupard had a goal and assist for Albany. The Great Danes will host the conference tournament.  

• UC Davis scored the first tally of the game but No. 13 USC took control from there, scoring four straight to never look back in a 12-6 win. The Women of Troy (13-3, 8-2 Pac-12) will be the No. 2 seed in the Pac-12 tournament, earning a bye to the semifinals against the winner of Arizona State and Cal. Isabelle Vitale continued her excellent season with a hat trick. Claudia Shevitz and Maggie Brown each scored twice.

• Fourth-seeded Fairfield got four goals from Maggie Fort in a 15-8 win over fifth-seeded Canisius in the first round of the MAAC tournament. A 7-3 first quarter advantage was enough for Fairfield to lead comfortably the rest of the way. The Stags advance to the MAAC semifinals against second-seeded Siena, which is also hosting the tournament.

HOW THE TOP 20 FARED

No. 3 Maryland defeated No. 19 Michigan, 13-8
No. 9 Florida defeated East Carolina, 16-4
No. 7 Stony Brook defeated Albany, 16-5
No. 11 James Madison defeated Drexel, 18-12
No. 12 Princeton defeated Yale, 17-14
No. 13 USC defeated UC Davis 12-6

FULL SCOREBOARD

No. 9 Florida 16, East Carolina 4
No. 3 Maryland 13, No. 19 Michigan 8
Liberty 16, Kennesaw State 7
Furman 16, Winthrop 13,
Wagner 12, Bryant 11
Sacred Heart 18, Saint Francis 6
Central Michigan 19, Akron 10
Villanova 12, Butler 10
Towson 17, Delaware 10
No. 11 James Madison 18, Drexel 12
Hofstra 18, Elon 12
Coastal Carolina 23, Stetson 13
UMBC 13, New Hampshire 10
Binghamton 11, Vermont 10
Cornell 16, Dartmouth 13
Manhattan 16, Niagara 15
Temple 17, Old Dominion 7
Mount St. Mary’s 14, Central Connecticut 1
LIU 22, Howard 4
Vanderbilt 23, Cincinnati 7
Harvard 15, Brown 14
Gardner-Webb 15, Campbell 14
No. 12 Princeton 17, Yale 14
No. 7 Stony Brook 16, Albany 15
Kent State 16, Detroit Mercy
No. 13 USC 12, UC Davis 6
Fairfield 15, Canisius 8