WICHITA, Kan. The Southeastern Women's Lacrosse League did not enjoy a good Thursday in Wichita.
League members Florida Club and Georgia, the top two Division I seeds in the WCLA National Championship, both fell victim to upsets engineered by No. 5 Northeastern and No. 3 UCLA, respectively.
The Huskies and Bruins will both look to secure their first national championships when they meet in the title game on Friday at 8:30 am. (CT).
Although the two semi-final games were completely different in style, both provided plenty of drama until the final horn.
In the first quarter, Northeastern (12-3) scored three straight goals in a four-minute span of the third quarter to take the lead, then survived a late Florida charge to win 10-9.
After Molly Burns' second goal of the game with 3:16 left pushed Northeastern's lead to 10-8, the Huskies controlled the ensuing draw and were able to pull within three minutes. A late turnover led to a quick transition goal by Florida's Mia Lindsey with 19 seconds left, bringing the Gators within one and setting up high drama in the tie.
The Huskies controlled the tie initially, with Burns taking the ball on the ground and getting fouled. The restart at midfield, however, led to another turnover, with the Gators getting the ball quickly on the offensive end and having a final shot sail out of the horn. The Northeastern celebration was underway.
“We know we're prepared, so we're just playing our game,” said Burns, who finished with two goals and an assist. “We try to send two or three players on ground balls and look for feeds on offense. Defensively, we're just trying to play hard and play hard.”
Burns said there was no panic when Florida built an early 3-1 lead or mounted a late fourth-quarter charge.
“Lacrosse is a running game and we know we can't get down,” he said.
Midfielder Ellie Morrall paced the Huskie offense with four goals, while forward Jessie Kilburn added three.
“We try to take advantage of 1-v-1 opportunities, but we're always looking for the cutter when the slide comes our way,” Morrall said. “We all trust our teammates.”
Junior Brook Papenfuss led Florida (16-2) with four goals and three assists, while goalie Jordyn Salbe made 10 saves in a losing effort.
