For the second year in a row, the DU women’s club lacrosse team secured the US Lacrosse Women’s Collegiate Lacrosse Associates (WCLA) Division II National Championship. Heading into the tournament ranked No. 1, the Pioneers downed Loyola University Maryland 9-6 on May 13.
Having gained momentum throughout the season, DU (14-2) headed into the championship match riding a 13-game winning streak. Despite having an All-American goaltender in Jammie Dumolt, the senior failed to enter the game. Instead, Kallie Feldhaus earned the win after Head Coach Mindy Stone decided Feldhaus’s left-handedness would be more effective versus Loyola’s attack. Feldhaus made eight saves on the day.
Trailing 3-4 in the first half, the Pioneers were able to mount a sizeable run when they rallied off four straight goals. The 7-4 lead heading into halftime was far from safe, as Loyola’s fantastic attack had terrorized opposing defenses all season.
A quick Loyola tally to open the second half cut DU’s lead to 7-5, but the Pioneers backline failed to panic. Instead, they only surrendered one more score over the game’s final 27:42, allowing DU to cruise to a 9-6 victory and become the first back-to-back champion in WCLA Division II history.
“Coming off of our win at nationals last year, we were excited from day one of this season. We wanted to repeat and we knew that we could. I have never experienced a team that is so committed and close-knit, which was a huge factor to our success,” said senior All-American attack Jillian Queri.
Kaitlin Ball, Kelley Dingens and Sophie Vernon represented DU on the Division II All-Tournament Team for their performances throughout the week. Ball recorded two points (one goal, one assist) in the championship game, while Vernon tallied three points (two goals, one assist). Vernon was also named the tournament’s most outstanding midfielder.
The national title put an exclamation mark on another superb season for the team, having produced six First-Team All Americans and two Second-Team All Americans. Senior Kelly Dingens won the Amtahcha Award as Player of the Year, as well as the Defender of the Year award. Ball was named the Attacker of the Year and Vernon was awarded the Rookie of the Year.
After another accolade-laden season gleaned a national championship, the team will look to build off of their momentum and make another title run in 2017-18.
