INDIANAPOLIS – FINAL FOUR BOUND! For the first time in program history, the Maryville women's lacrosse team has earned a berth to the NCAA Division II Final Four with a thrilling 11-10 victory over No. 3 Indianapolis.
Paige Murphy scored four times, while
Helen Bae had a hat trick and a pair of assists.
Gianna Guzek made 11 saves, including two in the final seconds to preserve the triumph as the Saints won the Midwest Regional.
HOW IT HAPPENED
After a lengthy rain delay at halftime, the Saints tallied three straight goals to stretch out their lead.
Paige Murphy fired in a free-position goal, and
Natalie Tomljenovic took a feed from
Emmery Clark and deposited a shot. Murphy collected a pass from
Helen Bae and converted for a 9-6 lead. UIndy rallied and pulled to within 9-8 at the end of the third quarter.
The Greyhounds tied the score at 9-9 in the second minute of the fourth but Murphy had the answer. She converted a free-position shot to put the Saints back on top 10-9 with 8:45 to play. Two minutes later, Bae converted another FPS as Maryville pushed the margin to 11-9 with 6:26 remaining. The Greyhounds pulled one goal back with 4:37 to play to set up a frantic waning minutes. UIndy hit a post before Guzek made a splendid save. The teams traded turnovers until the Greyhounds got the ball back with just under two minutes to play.
Dorothy Fife caused a turnover to give the Saints the ball back. Maryville bled off the clock but the Greyhounds retrieved the ball with 33 seconds to play. Looking for the game-tying goal, Guzek stoned UIndy right in front of the goal with five seconds to play. UIndy had one more chance but the shot was turned away with one second to play to give the Saints the historic victory.
In the first half, the Saints broke through with the first goal of the game when Murphy curled around the top of the UIndy defense and fired in a shot. Guzek made a save for the Saints and Maryville's transition offense led to
Helen Bae running down the lane for a score and a 2-0 lead. After a yellow card was issued, Clark fired in a low shot for a player-up goal and a 3-0 advantage. Bae fed
Kylie Pettus for another score as the Saints boosted their margin to 4-0. The Saints nearly blanked the powerful Greyhound offense but UIndy finally broke through a score with eight seconds left to pull to 4-1 after one.
UIndy tallied the opening goal of the second frame but Bae converted a free-position chance to make it 5-2. The Greyhounds scored to close the gap to 5-3 before Pettus went low on a free-position shot to push the edge back up to 6-3. The Greyhounds answered with two more goals as the Saints took a 6-5 into halftime. The five goals is tied for the fewest UIndy had scored all season long in the first half.
The win over UIndy is a measure of revenge as the Greyhounds had won both the regular-season meeting as well as in the title game of the GLVC Tournament. In addition, No. 3 Indianapolis is the highest ranked team Maryville has defeated in program history, surpassing the win over No. 5 Regis March 16, 2024.
STATISTICAL LEADERS
Goals:
Paige Murphy - 4
Assists:
Helen Bae - 2
Points:
Helen Bae - 5
Ground Balls:
Gianna Guzek and
Kylie Pettus - 3
Caused Turnovers:
Andra Alexander and
Mady Richert - 2
Draw Controls:
Paige Murphy - 4
Saves:
Gianna Guzek - 11
RECORDS
No. 8 Maryville: 16-4
No. 3 Indianapolis: 18-2
WHAT'S NEXT?
The Saints will be the No. 3 seed at the NCAA Semifinals and face No. 2 seed East Stroudsburg Thursday, May 21, at 6:30 pm CT / 7:30 pm ET in Rochester, N.Y., with the other semifinal game featuring No. 1 seed Florida Southern versus No. 4 seed Pace. The Division II National Championship game is at 4 pm CT / 5 pm ET on Saturday, May 23. All games will be played at Judson Stadium on the campus of Rochester Institute of Technology.
