There’s a strong case of déjà vu in the WCLA following Friday’s Division I national semifinals.
Wins by No. 1 seed Pittsburgh and No. 6 Delaware sets up a re-match of the 2017 final, with the exact seedings that the teams had that year in Utah. Two years ago,the Blue Hens captured their first WCLA title by upsetting the Panthers, 13-11.
In Friday’s first semifinal game, Michigan Club won the tempo battle, but Pittsburgh won the war.
In a game played to Michigan’s preferred pace, with deliberate, long offensive possessions, it was the Pitt defense that shined, leading the Panthers to an 8-3 win. Pitt held Michigan to its lowest goal output of the season to advance to Saturday’s WCLA championship game.
“We score a lot of goals and our offense overshadows our defense sometimes, but defense is still our anchor,” said Pitt coach Kevin Tidgewell.
Quick slides, effective double-teams, and great goaltending by senior Katie Honebrink, who finished with 16 saves, allowed Pitt to steadily pull away in the second half.
In the second semifinal, a dominating first half performance by Delaware in which it executed its offense at high efficiency and built a 9-3 halftime lead eventually carried the Blue Hens past BYU, 12-9, but not before the a furious late rally by the Cougars.
Powered by four goals from sophomore Allie Scannapieco, Delaware had a 11-4 lead with just over 22 minutes remaining. That’s when momentum swing.
Five straight goals by BYU over a five-minute span, fueled by three goals from senior Tessia Anderson, pulled the Cougars to within 11-9 with 10:09 left to play.
Delaware finally stopped the run with Alexa Woodruff’s second goal of the game at 8:40, breaking a scoring drought of 14 minutes.
“Yeah, it got a little exciting, but we just focus on supporting each other and hyping each other up,” said defender and team captain Emma Walter.
Saturday’s championship game, slated to start at 2:30 pm, will not only feature a re-match of the 2017 final, but also a re-match of this year’s regular season meeting in March. Pitt won that game at home, 8-6, one of just two close games that the Panthers played all season.
“It will be nice to face them on neutral field this time,” Walter said.
Pittsburgh, the nation’s only undefeated team, improved to 18-0 overall. Delaware is 12-2.
In Division II, defending national champion Loyola Maryland and the resurrected club program at Navy will meet in Saturday's 12-noon final after both teams posted semifinal wins Friday.
Loyola staged a strong second half comeback to defeat No. 1 seed Utah State, 16-10, while Navy led from start to finish to upset No. 2 seed Denver, 15-9.
Loyola and Navy will be meeting for the third time this season. As members of the Mid-Atlantic Women’s Lacrosse League (MAWLL), the teams faced each other in both the regular season and the league championship. They split the first two meetings.
In Loyola’s win on Friday, the Greyhounds proved that it’s not about how you start, but rather, how you finish.
The defending champs found themselves in a 5-0 hole just nine minutes into the contest against Utah State. But there was no panic, and certainly no quit.
No. 4 seed Loyola answered by scoring four of the next five goals to stop the bleeding, and eventually pulled to within 8-6 at halftime. After intermission, the Hounds ran at full stride.
Loyola scored 10 of the game’s last 11 goals, including eight straight to cap the second half. All-American attacker Kelly O’Krepkie tallied three of her four goals in the second half and finished with a game-high eight points.
Loyola, 13-1 overall, returns to the D-II final for the third straight year with a chance to claim its second straight title.
“We just didn’t have any momentum at the start,” said captain Joanna Messina. “For some reason, our energy wasn’t flowing yet. But once we got it started, it was unstoppable.”
In the nightcap, Navy used four goals by Cheyenne Coughlin and three by both Aidan Gelback and Mary O’Flaherty to storm past the Pioneers. Navy (9-3) opened the game with a 4-1 run to take early control, and added a four-goal run, fueled by three tallies by Coughlin, in the final five minutes of the first half to create separation.
“This is crazy, we never expected this in our first season,” Coughlin said.
Navy has a successful club history, having finished as the national runner-up in the inaugural WCLA championship tournament in 2001 and again in 2007. The program then went dormant as Navy launched its new women’s varsity program in 2008. After a 10-year hiatus, the club returned to competition this spring through the revival efforts of several players.
“The girls on this team have so much passion for this sport,” Coughlin said. “We were all a bit rusty when we started practicing in the fall, but we’ve improved all through the season.”
Both championship games will be available for viewing via free streaming on www.laxsportsnetwork.com.
Harrow Sports serves as the official event partner for the 2019 US Lacrosse WCLA National Championships, while US Lacrosse’s national partners, Motive Pure, Pearl by Guardian, Nationwide, Impact Canopy, Krossover, SISU and Sports Performance Tracking provide additional event support.