ROCHESTER, N.Y. – A furious fourth-quarter rally came up short as the Maryville women's lacrosse team fell to No. 1 seed Florida Southern 9-7 in the 2026 NCAA Division II National Championship game. Helen Bae, Paige Murphy and Mady Richert all tallied two goals apiece as the Saints outscored FSC 5-0 in the fourth quarter but ran out of time to complete the comeback.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Saints fell behind 1-0 but Kylie Pettus tied the score almost six minutes into the contest. However, the Maryville attack was unable to break through for a second as the Moccasins scored six straight goals. Richert collected a pass from Emmery Clark to tack on Maryville's second goal as the Saints were down 7-2 at halftime.
FSC scored the only two goals in the third to take a 9-2 margin heading into the final 15 minutes. Bae scored just 58 seconds into the frame to ignite the gigantic rally. Murphy followed and sniped in shot just underneath the crossbar. The Saints drew a green card, and Richert curled around the top of the FSC defense and rocketed in a shot to trim the gap to 9-5. Murphy fired in yet another goal as the Saints pulled to within 9-6 with just over five minutes to play. Devyn Dimovitz fed Pettus for another score as the Saints chopped the gap down to 9-7 with 2:20 to play.
The Saints snared the ensuing draw control but were unable to get a shot off. Dorothy Fife caused an FSC turnover which led to another Maryville push. Murphy had a golden opportunity to close the gap even more but her shot was turned aside. The Saints tracked down the ground ball but turned the ball over and were unable to close the gap any further as the Moccasins held off the massive Maryville rally.
STATISTICAL LEADERS
Goals: Helen Bae, Paige Murphy, Mady Richert - 2
Assists: Devyn Dimovitz - 2
Points: Paige Murphy - 3
Ground Balls: Dorothy Fife - 4
Caused Turnovers: Dorothy Fife and Haley Ritchie - 2
Draw Controls: Paige Murphy - 4
Saves: Gianna Guzek - 7
RECORDS
No. 8 Maryville: 17-5
No. 2 Florida Southern: 21-1