ROCHESTER, N. Y. – The magical history tour continues.
The Roberts Wesleyan College women's lacrosse team, playing the first NCAA Tournament game in program history, advanced to the NCAA Division II Final Four with a 10-7 victory over Bentley University in the NCAA East Region championship on a perfect spring afternoon on Redhawks Field.
"When I first came here our goal was just to get to the ECC Tournament," senior midfielder Madilynn Walsh said. "Every year we have kind of bumped it up and now we are going to the Final Four. This is just a dream. What a way to end my senior year."
The top-seeded Redhawks (14-1) certainly did it in style. Roberts jumped to an early 2-0 lead and then outscored the third-seeded Falcons (12-3) 4-0 in the first 15:09 of the second half to earn a trip to the national semifinals in Salem, Va. Roberts earned the No. 3 seed and will play second-seeded Lindenwood (15-1) at 7 p.m. Friday, May 21 at Kerr Stadium. No. 1 Queens (13-1) will play No. 4 East Stroudsburg (12-3) at 4 p.m. in the other semifinal.
"This win shows everyone that Rochester has a great Division II women's lacrosse program and a great Division II college in Roberts Wesleyan," Roberts coach Kristin Paolini said. "We all wanted the same thing. We wanted it more. We knew that we wanted to play another game and that we wanted to be together for another week. We pulled together for a common goal and went out and did it."
The attack tandem of Lindsey Brinkel and Madison Bell sparked the offense for 10th-ranked Roberts (14-1). Brinkel registered two goals and three assists and Bell finished with three goals and an assist.
Junior Kelsey Simmons scored on a free position shot to give Roberts a 4-3 lead with 27 seconds remaining in the first half and Roberts took control from there.
Bell converted a feed from Brinkel with 28:32 to cap a long opening possession at the start of the second half to start the decisive burst. Senior Emily Tomei (2 goals, 4 draw controls) scored on a free position goal at 25:41 and Bell converted another feed from Brinkel to put the Redhawks in front 7-3 with 18:50 remaining. Brinkel finished a woman-up opportunity off a pass from Simmons to give Roberts an 8-5 lead with 17:26 to go.
"In the second half we just came out and played our game," Brinkel said.
"Our team does a really good job of realizing what needs to be fixed at halftime and then going out and doing it," Bell said.
Taylor Nathan scored a free position goal with 8:35 left and graduate student Jessica Giancursio, who was seemingly everywhere all afternoon, scooped up a loose ball and fired it home to give the Redhawks an insurmountable 10-6 advantage with 4:22 left.
"I just do it for my teammates," Giancursio said. "I see how hard that they are working out there all of the time and I just do it for them."
Roberts used an effective zone defense to limit scoring opportunities for the 12th-ranked Falcons. Bentley attempted only 21 shots and committed 24 turnovers. Senior Julia Glavin led Bentley with three goals and graduate student Eliza Bresler kept the Falcons close by making 11 saves.
Junior Natalie Arieno made six saves for Roberts and graduate student Tiffany Melendez caused three turnovers in a relentless effort.
Paolini said a couple of tweaks helped key the defense.
"By taking a step back, we allowed them to make some mistakes and snag some passes from the air," she said.
"Our ability to communicate with one another and pick up cutters so quickly," said Walsh, who caused two turnovers.
Paolini and several players also pointed to the Roberts culture for being a key to the Redhawks memorable run.
"We truly show them that we care about them as people and as young women," Paolini said. "What we do comes from the heart and they see that and they buy into it. You can't fake that. If it is not authentic, they will see right through it."
Instead, they are embracing it.
"Our culture has set us apart from the beginning," Giancursio said.
"We had the talent and the culture to get us there (to the Final Four), and now we're going," Bell said.
The Redhawks are entering new territory and have a message to share with those who may have doubted them.
"Never underestimate," Bell said. "We have been underdogs and underestimated in a lot of scenarios, but we keep proving everyone wrong."
"We're getting our name out there," Brinkel said. "Some people outside of our program haven't believed in us yet, but I think getting this win will help get the word out and be good for our program and for Roberts."
Provided by the Roberts Wesleyan Sports Information Department.
