Regis RUWL 20-2

Tampa TAMPA 18-3

Regis RUWL

20-2

Final

May. 23, 2024

Tampa TAMPA

18-3

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	3	4	F
Regis RUWL	5	5	1	5	16
Tampa TAMPA	3	7	4	3	17

Summary
Box Score

Brittany Lamele

Game Recap: Women's Lacrosse | May 23 | David Wilson, Assistant AD-Communications

Rangers battle to final seconds, but fall by 17-16 final in NCAA DII semi-finals to Tampa

WINTER PARK, Fla. — The Regis University women's lacrosse team had its historic 2024 season unfortunately come to an end on Thursday, falling by a narrow 17-16 final to the University of Tampa in the NCAA Division II Women's Lacrosse Championship semi-finals, hosted at Showalter Stadium in Winter Park, Florida.

No. 2 seeded Regis (20-2 overall), which advanced to the Final Four with a pair of thrilling one-goal wins during the Midwest Regional Tournament, nearly duplicated the magic again Thursday. The Rangers erased a 16-13 deficit entering the fourth quarter, and had the ball in the final seconds, but had a potential game-tying shot miss just left of the cage as No. 3 seeded Tampa (18-3 overall) held on to advance to Saturday's Division II national championship game.

For the Rangers, the five-time defending RMAC regular season and tournament champions, Thursday's game marked the program's third NCAA Division II Championship semi-final appearance while the 20 wins in 2024 ties the school record for most wins in a single-season.

"First thing I told the team after the game was just how proud of them I was. We had a tremendous season and an incredible run in the tournament too," said Regis head women's lacrosse coach, Sarah Kellner. "Rangers Nation was loud and proud all season and we thought a lot about those girls and those teams that helped lay the groundwork the past 25 years. This group was gritty, super resilient and we were in the battle until the very end, which is all you can ask for."

HOW IT HAPPENED
Playing under the warm Florida sun, it was the Rangers who appeared the most at home in the early going Thursday as Regis scored the game's first three goals and led 4-1 at the 8:02 mark of the first quarter.

Sophomore midfielder Shea Murphy scored three of the Rangers' first four goals of the opening period and paced all Regis scorers with five goals and six total points.

The two teams would then trade scoring runs against each other the rest of the first half as Tampa tied the score at 5-5, Regis responded with a 4-0 burst to regain a 9-5 lead, and the Spartans closed the high-scoring second quarter with five of the next six goals to send the game into halftime deadlocked at 10-10.

Tampa would control the third quarter, taking its first lead of the game at 12-11 and entering the fourth with a 14-11 advantage.

Regis would not go away quietly, though, as the Rangers trimmed the deficit to one on three separate occasions and outscored the Spartans, 5-3, in the period.

"It was a game of runs with each team making adjustments to what the other team was doing," Kellner said. They threw a lot of different defenses at us and I thought, defensively, we did a really good job in the fourth quarter of forcing some really key stops that gave us a chance at the end."

Sophomore attacker Lauren Sheets brought the Rangers to within 14-13 at the 13:42 mark, junior Megan Bunker made it a 16-15 game with 8:35 remaining, and Murphy again found the back of the net with 27 seconds left to bring Regis within one again at 17-16.

Murphy followed the goal up with a crucial draw control win to give the Rangers the ball and a chance to tie in the waning seconds, but a potential game-tying shot of the stick of Bunker just went wide left as the final horn sounded.

"Tampa came at us and drew a penalty, which was actual unfortunate because it kind of killed our momentum going forward off the draw control and we had put in a play call to go in transition," Kellner said. "The foul call let Tampa get back and get settled. But we did a lot of great things, scoring that last goal and getting the ball off the draw control. Just wish we'd have had a little more time."

Murphy would pace a total of seven Regis goal scorers on Thursday with her five, while five different players scored two goals apiece.

Graduate student attacker Gabby Rothermund scored two goals and added a team-high three assists, padding her career assists record to 141 across her 78 career games.

Bunker and Sheets each scored two goals, as well as senior midfielder Bailey Truex — named a IWLCA All-American on Wednesday — and sophomore midfielder Maggie Schipfer, who led all Regis players with 69 goals and 89 points in 2024.

Defensively, Bunker completed her strong first season with Regis by leading the squad with two caused turnovers, tying Truex for the team lead in ground balls (4) and winning 13 of the Rangers' 23 draw controls. Her 172 draw controls are the second most this season among all Division II players.

In net, senior goalkeeper Elizabeth Myotte closed her 2024 season with seven saves.

SENSATIONAL SENIORS
Myotte is one of six Regis seniors and graduate students who were honored by the program earlier this season, joined by Truex, Rothermund, Sarah Hanson, Tia Krats and 2024 RMAC Tournament MVP and All-American, Lily Ferguson.

They are a part of a Regis class that has won five straight RMAC regular season and tournament championships while bringing the program back to the national semi-finals for the first time since 2019.

"This was an incredibly special group of seniors and they'll leave big shoes to fill," Kellner said. "They left their mark. Their job was to leave the program better than how they found it and they did that. Their legacy will continue, not just by what they were able to accomplish on the field, but the work ethic is what stands out the most with that group. They worked so hard and put in so much time to make this team great and I think that's the legacy they leave behind."

LOOKING AHEAD
The leadership from the upperclassmen, and the excited surrounding the 17 players the Rangers are set to return in 2025, give the program plenty of reasons for optimism that they can be a threat on the national stage again this time next spring.

"We really just have the mindset — we'll probably turn it on after this weekend — of getting back to work and trying to get better for next season. That's just how the program is and another testament to our seniors and the work ethic they instilled," Kellner said. "We have a lot of juniors and sophomores who have a lot of experience, are great players, have lots of talent and are great leaders, as well. I'm excited for them moving into next year."

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Scoring Summary
Scoring Play	Home Team Score
1st Period		RUWL	TAMPA
12:32	RUWL - Shea Murphy	1	0
11:21	RUWL - Lily Ferguson	2	0
10:38	RUWL - Shea Murphy	3	0
09:38	TAMPA - Allie Peebles	3	1
08:02	RUWL - Shea Murphy	4	1
05:21	TAMPA - Peyton Howell	4	2
02:59	RUWL - Maggie Schipfer Assisted by Gabby Rothermund	5	2
01:45	TAMPA - Gracie Colombo	5	3
2nd Period		RUWL	TAMPA
12:30	TAMPA - Gracie Colombo	5	4
12:03	TAMPA - Sarah Hinkle Assisted by Isabella Avila	5	5
11:18	RUWL - Megan Bunker Assisted by Gabby Rothermund	6	5
10:34	RUWL - Shea Murphy	7	5
09:43	RUWL - Gabby Rothermund	8	5
07:03	RUWL - Maggie Schipfer Assisted by Becky Goetsch	9	5
06:16	TAMPA - Gracie Colombo	9	6
05:46	TAMPA - Peyton Howell Assisted by Sophi Wrisk	9	7
04:51	TAMPA - Sophi Wrisk Assisted by Peyton Howell	9	8
03:37	RUWL - Gabby Rothermund Assisted by Shea Murphy	10	8
02:48	TAMPA - Peyton Howell	10	9
00:10	TAMPA - Sarah Hinkle Assisted by Riley McGettigan	10	10
3rd Period		RUWL	TAMPA
09:57	TAMPA - Gracie Colombo	10	11
09:12	RUWL - Bailey Truex	11	11
06:10	TAMPA - Sarah Hinkle Assisted by Riley McGettigan	11	12
04:26	TAMPA - Cece Colombo	11	13
02:05	TAMPA - Peyton Howell	11	14
4th Period		RUWL	TAMPA
14:17	RUWL - Bailey Truex Assisted by Gabby Rothermund	12	14
13:42	RUWL - Lauren Sheets Assisted by Lily Ferguson	13	14
12:35	TAMPA - Jenna Myhal	13	15
10:31	TAMPA - Sophi Wrisk	13	16
09:47	RUWL - Lauren Sheets Assisted by Bailey Truex	14	16
08:35	RUWL - Megan Bunker	15	16
02:49	TAMPA - Georgia Glowaki	15	17
00:27	RUWL - Shea Murphy Assisted by Maggie Schipfer	16	17