Salem, Va. – The most successful season in Roberts Wesleyan College women's lacrosse history came to an end in the NCAA Division II semifinals on Friday night.
The third-seeded Redhawks, who had never won a postseason game before this spring, fell to No. 2 Lindenwood (Mo.) University, 12-9, in a Final Four game played at Donald J. Kerr Stadium on the campus of Roanoke College.
Senior Emily Tomei scored three goals to lead Roberts and junior Kelsey Simmons and senior Taylor Nathan each scored two for the Redhawks. Senior Lindsey Brinkel, the leading scorer for Roberts this season, finished with a goal and two assists.
Roberts (14-2) fell behind 4-0 in the first 10 minutes, but closed the first half on a 3-2 run to trail 6-3 at intermission. The Redhawks, who became known for their strong second-half finishes this season, pulled within two goals with 22:44 left in the game but Lindenwood always seemed to find an answer.
Simmons converted a feed from Brinkel to get Roberts on the board with 19:10 remaining in the half. Brinkel then scored off an assist by Alexis Grant to bring the Redhawks within 4-2 with 15:32 to go.
Simmons sandwiched her second goal of the evening in between two Lindenwood goals to complete the first-half scoring.
Roberts junior Natalie Arieno made four of her seven saves in the first 30 minutes.
Nathan finished a pass in front from Ellen O'Neil to bring Roberts within 7-4 with 24:06 to play and Tomei made it 7-5 off a feed from Brinkel with 22:44 to go.
Lindenwood scored twice within 27 seconds to go up 9-5 with 21:08 left, but Madison Bell connected with Tomei for a goal that made it 9-6 with 17:12 remaining
O'Neil found the back of the cage to bring the Redhawks within 10-7 with 11:24 to play and Nathan scored on a free position opportunity with 7:01 left. Tomei closed the scoring with her 51st goal of the season with three seconds left.
Erin McGuire led Lindenwood with three goals.
Lindenwood (16-1) will play Queens (14-1) for the national championship at 2 p.m. Sunday.
Provided by the Roberts Wesleyan Sports Information Department.
