SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The 12th ranked and No. 2 seeded Slippery Rock University women's lacrosse team will face seventh ranked and No. 3 seeded Adelphi University in the semifinal round of the NCAA Division II Tournament Thursday evening at 7:30 p.m. in Salem, Virginia.
 
SEMIFINAL GAME INFORMATION
•  NCAA Division II Tournament Bracket
•  Date: Thursday, May 22
•  Game Time: 7:30 p.m.
•  Facility: Donald J. Kerr Stadium  |  Roanoke College
•  Location: Salem, Virginia
•  Tickets: $15 for adults, $10 for students K-12 and ages 65+
•  Purchase Tickets Online Here (cash and card accepted at the gates as well)
 
LIVE COVERAGE
•  Live Stats: LINK
•  Live Video: LINK
 
NO TV APPS AVAILABLE
• The only place to view the semifinal and championship games will be at the NCAA.com website.
 
FINAL FOUR SEEDS (Teams seeded by NCAA Lacrosse Committee)
• No. 1 – Tampa (South Region Champions)
• No. 2 – Slippery Rock (Atlantic Region Champions)
• No. 3 – Adelphi (East Region Champions)
• No. 4 – Indianapolis (Midwest Region Champions)
 
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
• Semifinal #1: Tampa vs. Indianapolis – Thursday, 4:30 p.m.
• Semifinal #2: Slippery Rock vs. Adelphi – Thursday, 7:30 p.m.
• National Championship: Semifinal Winners – Saturday, 5 p.m.
 
THREE FORMER CHAMPS AND THE ROCK
This year's semifinalists include three of the last five national champions, including the top overall seed and defending champion Tampa, last year's runner-up, Adelphi, and the 2022 national champions from Indianapolis. Slippery Rock is the only team of the four heading to Salem that has never won a national title or even played for one.
 
THE ROCK'S SEMIFINAL OPPONENT
The Rock are making their first NCAA Tournament appearance ever and will meet the winningest program in Division II history in the semifinals. Adelphi, which lost to Tampa 13-8 in the national title game last spring, has won nine national championships out of the 23 total national tournaments that have taken place in Division II. The Panthers are looking for their first title since 2019 and their fourth since 2014.
 
ATLANTIC REGION DROUGHT
Slippery Rock is trying to end a national title drought for the Atlantic Region that dates back to 2008 when West Chester won its second title. The Golden Rams have reached the national title game four times since then, coming up short each time. Other members of the current Atlantic Region have also finished runner up six times since 2008 with Lock Haven (3x), Limestone (2x) and East Stroudsburg (1x) all losing in championship appearances.
 
NO TITLE GAME APPEARANCES FOR SRU AT D2 LEVEL
The Rock lacrosse team has a chance to do something no other team in any sport has accomplished at Slippery Rock by reaching the national title game. Since SRU joined the Division II ranks in the 1980s, the closest any team sport has been to the national title game were multiple semifinal appearances. SRU has reached the national semifinals in football three times (2024, 2019, 1998), including last fall, and baseball once (1989). This year's lacrosse team becomes just the fifth team in SRU history to reach the national semifinal round in a team sport.
 
ONE NCAA TITLE EVER AT SRU
Slippery Rock has claimed one NCAA national title in any sport in school history with the 1979 men's track & field team winning the Division III title that year.
 
GAME 21 DETAILS
• Opponent: No. 7 Adelphi University
• Date: Thursday, May 22, 2025  |  7:30 p.m.
• Location: Kerr Stadium  |  Salem, Va.
• All-Time Series: 0-0
• Current Streak: First meeting
• Last Meeting: First meeting
 
NATIONAL RANKINGS
Slippery Rock closed the regular season ranked seventh the USA Lacrosse Magazine national poll and No. 12 in the IWLCA coaches poll. Adelphi finished the regular season ranked No. 6 in the USA Lacrosse Magazine poll and No. 7 in the IWLCA coaches poll.
 
RECORDS
Slippery Rock is 18-2 overall, setting a program record for wins in a single season. The Rock went 10-0 in the PSAC West to claim the division crown this year and have lost just two games, both on the road at nationally ranked opponents (10-9 in overtime at Lander, 17-11 at West Chester in PSAC title game). Adelphi is 18-3 overall and is riding an 11-game winning streak that dates back to a 16-12 loss to No. 8 Pace on March 26. All three losses came on the road at ranked opponents, including a 20-6 loss at Tampa back in Feb. 22.
 
HOW THEY GOT HERE
Slippery Rock earned the No. 2 seed in the Atlantic Region and a first round bye. The Rock then had to go on the road as the higher seed as SRU's facility was unavailable due to hosting the conference track & field championships. SRU defeated No. 3 seed East Stroudsburg 9-6 on the road in the second round for the first NCAA Tournament win in program history. The Rock then went back to West Chester and knocked off the only undefeated team in Division II (19-0 entering last week) with a 16-13 win to claim the region title last Saturday.
 
Adelphi has proven itself in tight games, winning each of its last three games by one goal. The Panthers won the Northeast-10 title game 14-13 over Pace to earn the No. 1 seed in the East Region. They then took down No. 4 seed New Haven 15-14 in overtime in the second round before beating No. 2 seed Pace 13-12 in overtime last Saturday to win the East Region.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES
This will mark the first meeting between the two schools in the sport of women's lacrosse. The only other semifinalist Slippery Rock has ever played against is Tampa. The Rock earned a 13-12 win on the road at Tampa in 2017.

SLIPPERY ROCK PRIMER  |  Roster  |  Schedule  |  Stats
• Overall Record: 18-2
• PSAC Record: 10-0
• Home Record: 6-0
• Away Record: 10-2
• Neutral Record: 1-0
• Streak: W2
• Last Five Games: 4-1
• Head Coach: Taryn Burkholder (4th season, Niagara '12)  |  Record: 53-20
 
LAST TIME OUT  |  Box Score
Slippery Rock scored just 14 seconds into the game and never trailed over the final three quarters on the way to a 16-13 upset win at No. 1 West Chester last Saturday in the regional final. The Rock used a 19-14 advantage in draw controls to win the possession battle and limited West Chester to just 3-of-6 on free position attempts after the Rams scored seven free position goals in the PSAC title game two weeks earlier. Grace Rotter tallied three goals and three assists to lead the attack, while Isabella Buono added two goals and three assists and Leora Owings and Abby Fink each netted three goals with one assist. Owings also grabbed eight draw controls. Lily Ventresca made seven saves to earn the win in goal.
 
FIRST-EVER WIN OVER WEST CHESTER
The regional final victory over West Chester snapped a streak of 17 straight losses for The Rock against the Golden Rams as West Chester entered that game 17-0 all-time against SRU in a series that began in 1983.
 
FOURTH STRAIGHT 10-WIN SEASON
Slippery Rock has locked up a 10-win season to mark its fourth straight 10-win year, and just the ninth 10-win season in program history. Head coach Taryn Burkholder has led the program to at least 10 wins in every year of her career and becomes the first coach in program history with four 10-win seasons.
 
SECOND STRAIGHT 15-WIN SEASON
Slippery Rock's NCAA Tournament win last weekend marked the 18th victory of its 2025 campaign, setting a new program single-season record. SRU broke its previous win mark set last season when The Rock went 15-4. The 33 wins over the last two seasons are the best two-year stretch in school history and the only two seasons ever with at least 15 wins.
 
ROCK LANDS FOUR ON USA LACROSSE MAGAZINE ALL-AMERICA TEAM
Paige Jenkins (2nd team defense), Nicole Masi (3rd team defense), Leora Owings (honorable mention midfield) and Lily Ventresca (honorable mention goalie) were name to the USA Lacrosse Magazine All-America team this spring, marking the first SRU players to ever be recognized by USA Lacrosse Magazine. Prior to this year, SRU only had two total All-Americans at Division II level with Amy Halls (2011) and Emily Bitka (2018) being named to the IWLCA All-America teams.
 
FOUR NAMED TO ALL-REGION TEAM
The Rock had a program record four players named to All-Region honors when the IWLCA announced the All-Region team last week. Defender Paige Jenkins, midfielder Leora Owings and attacker Grace Rotter were named to the first team, while defender Nicole Masi was named to second team honors. Jenkins and Masi are now two-time All-Region honorees, while Owings and Rotter were named to their first All-Region squad.
 
PSAC POSTSEASON HONORS
Slippery Rock took home two of the major awards in the PSAC West this year with head coach Taryn Burkholder earning her second straight Coach of the Year award and defender Paige Jenkins earning the Defensive Player of the Year award. The Rock also landed eight total players on the All-PSAC team to tie the program record. First team selections included defenders Jenkins and Nicole Masi, midfielders Leora Owings and Isabella Buono and attackers Grace Rotter and Reagan Richeson. Defender Amelia Nitsche and attacker Abby Fink picked up second team honors.
 
ROCK WINNING WITH DEFENSE
The Rock have allowed double-digit goals just eight times this year and enter Thursday ranked No. 8 among all teams in the country in scoring defense, allowing just 8.30 goals per game. SRU is 13th in Division II in scoring margin at +6.15 goals per game, ranks seventh nationally in caused turnovers with 13.05 per game and ranks 14th nationally with 20.80 ground balls per game.
 
VETERAN DEFENSIVE CORE LEADING THE WAY
Slippery Rock boasts a veteran defensive core that is among the best in the region, led by All-Americans Paige Jenkins and Nicole Masi. Jenkins has tallied 42 caused turnovers and also ranks third on the team with 64 draw controls and fourth on the team with 36 ground balls. Nicole Masi has 34 caused turnovers and 40 ground balls, while Amelia Nitsche has 22 caused turnovers and leads the team with 41 ground balls. Hailey Ohlsen has six caused turnovers and 13 ground balls and McKenzie Murphy has 10 caused turnovers and 14 ground balls. Masi (81), Nitsche (69), Ohlsen (66), Jenkins (64) and midfielder Leora Owings (56) all rank in the top 20 all-time at SRU in career caused turnovers.
 
WE SHOOT A LOT
Slippery Rock enters this weekend ranked No. 8 in Division II in total shots with an average of 34.60 per game. The Rock are 16th in the nation in shots on goal per game at 24.75, but rank 76th in shooting percentage with goals coming on 41.8 percent of total shots. SRU is 23rd in the nation in scoring offense, averaging 14.45 goals per game.
 
FIVE TEAMS WITH TWO OR FEWER LOSSES
Entering the semifinals, Slippery Rock is one of just five teams in the country to have two or fewer losses. SRU's .900 winning percentage ranks fifth in the country. Of the five teams with two or fewer losses, only two (Tampa and Slippery Rock) are still alive in the NCAA Tournament.
 
ROTTER UP TO THIRD IN SINGLE-SEASON SCORING
Attacker Grace Rotter, who transferred into SRU this year after the closure of Notre Dame (Ohio) last spring, is up to 74 points this season and has climbed to No. 3 all-time at SRU on the single-season points ledger. She needs just one more to try Camryn Whipple (75 in 2024) for second all-time and trails Emily Benham (88 in 2022) by 12 points for the single-season record. Rotter was held without a point against West Chester in the PSAC title game two weeks ago, but responded with six points (3g, 3a) to lead the attack Saturday in the regional final.
 
HIGHEST SCORING TRIO IN PROGRAM HISTORY
For just the second time in program history, Slippery Rock has three players that have reached 40 goals and 50 points in the same season. Grace Rotter (48g, 26a, 74 pts), Abby Fink (49g, 13a, 62 pts) and Reagan Richeson (49g, 11a, 60 pts) were all named to the All-PSAC team as attackers this spring. They are the first trio of players in program history to have at least 60 points in the same season and they join the 2015 trio of Erin Wilcox (50), Paige Costantino (49) and Kaytlin Callaghan (46) as the only other set of three teammates to reach 40 goals in the same season at The Rock.
 
FIVE PLAYERS WITH 45+ POINTS
Slippery Rock enters the week with five players with at least 45 total points on the year. Grace Rotter leads the way with 48 goals and 26 assists for 74 points, which ranks third in SRU single-season scoring. Abby Fink and Reagan Richeson are tied for the team lead with 49 goals each. Fink also has 13 assists for 62 points, while Richeson has 11 assists for 60 points. Leora Owings has tallied 25 goals to go along with 22 assists for 47 points and Isabella Buono has 29 goals and 16 assists for 45 points.
 
FIVE MORE IN DOUBLE FIGURES
The Rock also have five more players with at least 11 points to give the team 10 players in double figures on the year. Eryn Little (24g, 1a), Krysta Frankowski (14g, 11a), Ava Dossier (11g, 10a), Maddie Blazey (6g, 6a) and Erin Melcher (5g, 6a) round out the players with at least 11 points.
 
21 DIFFERENT POINT SCORERS
21 total players have tallied at least one point on the year, including nine that average at least one point per game. Other scorers this year include Sydney Ulmer (6g, 3a), Ella Koslowski (5g, 3a), Laurelle Surette (5g, 1a), Cadyn Eismann (5g), Claire Petty (1g, 1a), Lauren Petty (2g), Shannon Von Kaenel (1g, 1a), Paige Jenkins (1g, 1a), Brooke Walters (1g), Hailey Ohlsen (1g), and Victoria Ziemba (1a).
 
OWINGS STUFFING THE STAT SHEET
Midfielder Leora Owings ranks fourth on the team in scoring and leads The Rock in draw controls with 133, which ranks fourth all-time in single-season history at SRU and ranks ninth in Division II this spring. She is also third on the team and leads all midfielders or attackers with 31 caused turnovers and is tied for the team lead with 41 ground balls. Owings also owns the highest shooting percentage on the team among players with at least 30 shots, putting 78.0 percent of her shots on target.
 
BUONO IN THE PLAYOFFS
Isabella Buono put up five points in both of the games against West Chester and comes into this week with 10 goals and three assists in SRU's four postseason games dating back to the PSAC semifinals. She has at least two goals in each of the last three games.
 
FINK SCORING STREAK
Attacker Abby Fink has scored in 15 straight games and has been held off the scoresheet just once this year, back on March 12 at Newberry. She has three goals in each of the NCAA Tournament games and has seven points in the two tournament games so far.
 
VENTRESCA SETS SRU WINS RECORD
Goalie Lily Ventresca ranks first in the PSAC and fifth in the nation in goals against average, allowing 8.42 goals per 60 minutes of action. She is a perfect 16-0 on the season, setting the SRU single-season record for goalie wins. Her win in the quarterfinals broke a tie with Gillian O'Rourke, who won 15 games in 2024. Ventresca has a .404 save percentage on the year. Ava Drath is 2-2 with a 7.84 goals against average and a .391 save percentage, but has not played enough minutes to qualify for the NCAA stats leaderboard. The goalies have combined for an 8.28 goals against average and a .401 save percentage.
 
DRAW SPECIALIST
Midfielder Shannon Von Kaenel has stepped into the draw specialist role this year and has helped SRU to post a 308-213 overall advantage in draw controls on the year. She personally has 81 draw controls to rank second on the team and seventh in SRU single-season history. The Rock lead the PSAC and rank 11th in Division II in draw control percentage, winning 59.1 percent of all draws taken.
 
SRU STATS BREAKDOWN
Slippery Rock is outscoring opponents 289-166 and outshooting the opposition 692-381 through 20 games. The Rock have posted advantages of 308-213 in draw controls, 416-353 in ground balls and 261-201 in caused turnovers. SRU is clearing the defensive zone at an 85.1 percent efficiency (251-of-295) while holding opponents to 68.0 percent on the clear (242-of-356).
 
NITSCHE'S RECORD FOR CAREER GAMES STARTED
Amelia Nitsche enters this week with 72 career starts under her belt, which is the most starts in program history. She passed Emma VanDenburg's 68 (2009-12) by starting against ESU and West Chester in the PSAC Tournament and is the only Rock women's lacrosse player in history to start 70 games in their career. Nitsche has logged more than 4,000 minutes on the field.
 
SRU PLAYERS IN TOP 20 IN CAREER RECORD BOOK
• Amelia Nitsche – 72 games started and games played (No. 1 at SRU)
• Hailey Ohlsen – 68 games played (No. 3 at SRU – needs 1 to move up to No. 2)
• Leora Owings – 163 draw controls (No. 5 at SRU – needs 20 to move up to No. 4)
• Nicole Masi – 81 caused turnovers (No. 8 at SRU – needs 1 to move up to No. 7)
• Krysta Frankowski – 42 assists (No. 10 at SRU – needs 1 to move up to No. 9)
• Paige Jenkins – 130 draw controls (No. 10 at SRU – needs 2 to move up to No. 9)
• Amelia Nitsche – 69 caused turnovers (No. 12 at SRU – needs 6 to move up to No. 11)
• Hailey Ohlsen – 66 caused turnovers (No. 13 at SRU – needs 3 to move up to No. 12)
• Reagan Richeson – 88 goals (No. 13 at SRU – needs 3 to move up to No. 12)
• Nicole Masi – 65 games played (No. 14 at SRU – needs 1 to move up to No. 12)
• Shannon Von Kaenel – 84 draw controls (No. 15 at SRU – needs 13 to move up to No. 14)
• Paige Jenkins – 64 caused turnovers (No. 15 at SRU – needs 1 to move up to No. 14)
• Nicole Masi – 110 ground balls (No. 16 at SRU – needs 7 to move up to No. 14)
• Leora Owings – 29 assists (No. 16 at SRU – needs 1 to move up to No. 14)
• Reagan Richeson – 103 points (No. 19 at SRU – needs 4 to move up to No. 17)
• Grace Rotter – 26 assists (No. 19 at SRU – needs 2 to move up to No. 18)
• Leora Owings – 56 caused turnovers (No. 19 at SRU – needs 4 to move up to No. 18)
• Amelia Nitsche – 99 ground balls (No. 20 at SRU – needs 1 to move up to No. 19)
 
MILESTONE WATCH
• Paige Jenkins: 20 DC away from 150
• Paige Jenkins: 11 CT away from 75
• Paige Jenkins: 10 GB away from 75
• Nicole Masi: 19 CT away from 100
• Nicole Masi: 15 GB away from 125
• Amelia Nitsche: 6 CT away from 75
• Amelia Nitsche: 1 GB away from 100
• Hailey Ohlsen: 2 GB away from 100
• Hailey Ohlsen: 9 CT away from 75
• Leora Owings: 19 CT away from 75
• Leora Owings: 12 DC away from 175
• Leora Owings: 8 PTS away from 75
• Reagan Richeson: 22 PTS away from 125
• Reagan Richeson: 12 goals away from 100
 
ADELPHI PRIMER  |  Roster  |  Schedule  |  Stats
• Overall Record: 18-3
• NE10 Record: 9-1
• Home Record: 10-0
• Away Record: 8-3
• Streak: W11
• Last Five Games: 5-0
• Head Coach: Pat McCabe (11th season, Syracuse '90)  |  Record: 181-31
 
SCOUTING THE PANTHERS
Adelphi is looking for its 10th national title and first since 2019. The Panthers finished second behind Pace in the regular season standings in the Northeast 10 Conference, but avenged an early season loss with a 14-13 win over Pace in the NE10 title game and a 13-12 overtime win against Pace in the East Region title game.
 
Adelphi is 18-3 overall and is riding an 11-game winning streak. The Panthers have outscored opponents 317-228 and outshot the opposition 632-560 this season. They have also put up advantages of 360-268 in ground balls and 212-153 in caused turnovers, while opponents have managed a 320-292 edge in draw controls.
 
All-American attacker Ashley Kolomechuk leads the offense with 100 points on 67 goals and 33 assists. Julia Foppiano is second in scoring with 40 goals and 37 assists for 77  points, while Alexandra Leggio (43g, 31a), Marielle Colalillo (36g, 33a), Payson Hedges (44g, 21a) and Rita Sefransky (43g, 16a) all have at least 59 points on the year. Colalillo leads the team with 78 draw controls while Sefransky adds 65 wins on the draw.
 
Danielle Becker leads the defense with 47 caused turnovers and 31 ground balls, while Sonny Lionetti adds 35 caused turnovers and 42 ground balls. Madison Marchetta has played all but 154 minutes in goal this season and is 16-3 with an 11.21 goals against average and a .421 save percentage.
 
UP NEXT
The winner of this game will advance to the national title game Saturday at 5 p.m. at Kerr Stadium against the winner of the first semifinal between Tampa and Indianapolis.
 
 



To stay up to date with all that happens at The Rock, follow our official athletic communication accounts on 'X' (formerly Twitter, @Rock_Athletics), Facebook (RockAthletics) and Instagram (RockAthletics).