The NCAA DII women’s lacrosse championship, previewed

The DII women's lacrosse bracket is filled. Twenty-four teams are set to commence play with one common goal: hoisting the national championship trophy Saturday, May 23 at Tiger Stadium in Rochester, New York. The two-time defending champion Tampa Spartans are back in the mix, as is the team they beat in both 2024 and 2025, Adelphi.

MORE: 🥍🏆 Follow the tournament

Before play gets rolling on May 7, let's talk a quick look at each of the four regions. 

A region-by-region look at the DII women's lacrosse championship

Atlantic Region

If this part of the bracket looks familiar, well, that is because it is. Five of these teams were here last year, with Slippery Rock advancing to the semifinals by defeating West Chester, 16-13, in the Atlantic Region finals. Speaking of West Chester, the Golden Rams remain the only PSAC team to win a DII women's lacrosse national championship, winning it in both 2002 and 2008, the last time an Atlantic Region team won. Kutztown, the lone team not returning from last year, is not making its DII women's lacrosse championship debut; however, the Golden Bears are looking for their first-ever tournament victory in their third trip to the dance. 

Slippery Rock enters the tournament with the best scoring defense in DII. The Rock is also 20-0, the best record in the country at any level, after winning its first-ever PSAC tournament championship. They are also ranked No. 4 in the IWLCA poll, the highest ranking in program history. That sure is a nice combination that could very well help The Rock defend the Atlantic Region crown. Keep an eye on Sadie Kauffman of East Stroudsburg, though. Her 92 goals have her in rare air; there are only seven 90-goal scorers across all three divisions of NCAA women's lacrosse, and she is one of them. 

East Region

Welcome to Panthers Country. That is not only the East Region, but in large part, all of DII women's lacrosse. Adelphi has won nine national championships, but hasn't claimed one since 2019. The Panthers also have three national runner-up campaigns, including each of the past two seasons. Yet again, Adelphi is the No. 1 seed here, and once again, Pace is No. 2. The two NE10 rivals have met in the East Regional finals in each of the past three seasons, and they may be on a collision course once again.  

How about those Wildcats of Wilmington? They defeated Dominican (NY) to win their first-ever CACC tournament title, and in doing so, ended the Chargers' reign, a run that had seen them win 37 straight CACC games spanning three seasons. Now, Wilmington gets to play its first-ever DII women's lacrosse championship game against the same Dominican team that will certainly be ramped up looking for revenge. Speaking of newcomers, welcome Southern Connecticut State to the bracket. The Owls set their single-season record for wins with 12 and would love to add lucky No. 13. NE10 goalkeeper of the year Caelan Connors will have her hands full with Mercy, which scores the third-most goals per game in the region.

Midwest Region

If you thought the Atlantic Region looked familiar, brace yourself here. The entire Midwest Region is returning from a year ago, and the seeding is not that far off. The Greyhounds enter the tournament as the No. 1 seed with the No. 1 scoring offense and No. 1 scoring defense in the region. They are also in the top three of both in DII. UIndy is the only active Midwest Region team to win a DII women's national championship, defeating East Stroudsburg in 2022. This team has plenty of firepower with four players that have scored at least 35 goals. 

If there is one player that should have every eye on her this tournament, she is in this region. Before transferring to the Saints this season, Maryville's Paige Murphy scored 113 goals as a freshman at Emmanuel (GA) and followed that up with a 101-goal campaign. She is currently tied for first with 96 goals this season and has 12 games with at least five goals scored in her 18 games played in 2026. She already has two of the top eight goal-scoring seasons in DII history, and seven more goals will give her two of the top five of all time, while four more goals will make her the only player in DII history with three 100-goal seasons. 

South Region

Just how deep is the South Region this year? The Spartans are seeded No. 4 — and they have won the last two national championships. It is their Sunshine State Conference nemesis Florida Southern sitting at No. 1. The Mocs are no strangers to the tournament, winning it all a decade ago at the DII Festival in Denver and finishing as national runner up in each of the following two seasons.  Jenna Vetter's 52 goals lead the way for the Mocs' offense, which surprisingly scores the second-fewest goals per game in the field. 

Tampa is looking to become the second team in DII women's lacrosse history to three-peat, and the first since Adelphi went back-to-back-to-back in 2009-11. The Spartans had a big March, taking down Mercy, Pace, Wingate and Maryville in consecutive games, each by at least six goals, before dropping two key Sunshine State Conference games in a row. They have Embry-Riddle in the first round, a team they beat 17-8 a little under a month ago, with Florida Southern — which beat them twice this season — waiting in the wings. 

For all the championship experience in this part of the bracket, we welcome two tournament newcomers. Saint Leo makes a tournament debut 15 years in the making. The Lions are one of the most aggressive teams in DII, averaging 5.12 of their 17.22 goals per game in the first quarter. That could be advantageous against Young Harris, which is also making its tournament debut. The Mountain Lions defeated Belmont Abbey for their first-ever Conference Carolinas tournament title, securing the automatic bid to the DII championship. They enter the tournament with a program-best 15 victories and winners of seven in a row. Riley Parker and Addison Heiser are a dangerous scoring duo, combining for 115 goals this season.