INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The No. 3 ranked Pace University women's lacrosse team punched its ticket to the National Championship game, defeating Florida Southern College 22-11 Friday, May 19 in the semifinal round and avenging their loss to the Mocs from earlier this season.
Pace (20-2) took the early lead on a goal by senior attack Sydney Juvelier (Centereach, N.Y./Centereach), who scored three times in the opening quarter for the Setters. Florida Southern (18-4) came back with two goals in 40 seconds from Abby McFerren and Madison Tare, taking a 2-1 lead.
However, that was the last time the Mocs would score in the quarter, as Pace ran off seven consecutive goals throughout the remainder of the period. Juvelier scored two more goals in a span of 42 seconds to put the Setters back in front, then senior attack Jolie Urraro (Sayville, N.Y./Connetquot) scored a minute later to make it a 4-2 game. Grad student midfielders Aleya Corretjer (Thiells, N.Y./North Rockland) and Emma Rafferty (Bay Shore, N.Y./Islip) scored two more goals for Pace, then Rafferty added one more with 2:23 remaining. With 1:37 left in the quarter, grad student midfielder Kayla Conway (Wantagh, N.Y./Wantagh) scored for Pace, giving the Setters an 8-2 lead after one.
Head coach Tricia Molfetta talked about the hot start for the team, saying "I thought we executed our game plan right away. I was happy with our start and I think one of the things was just putting our foot on the gas and keeping it there."
Porcello spoke about facing Florida Southern again and how motivated the team was to get the chance to play for the National Championship. "I thought about the last time we played Florida Southern, and that wasn't us." She said. "I think we all wanted to prove who we were and why we deserved to be here.
Florida Southern came back with a pair of early goals by Tare and Jackie Stoller to start the second quarter and cut the lead to 8-4. Pace then rattled off three goals in a 1:43 span, as junior midfielder Angelina Porcello (Eastchester, N.Y./Eastchester) scored a pair followed by one more from Urraro. The Mocs fought back again, however, scoring three straight of their own, including Tare's third of the day to trim their deficit to four goals at 11-7. The Setters responded with back-to-back goals by Porcello and Urraro, then with 2:02 remaining, a goal by Florida Southern's Hailey Daleo made it a 13-8 game at the half.
The Setters took control in the third, dominating play to open up a double-digit lead. Pace scored the first five goals of the period to take an 18-8 advantage. Porcello and sophomore attack Nikki Mottes (West Islip, N.Y./West Islip) scored the first two goals, followed by a pair from Conway and Urraro. With 6:38 remaining, Corretjer buried her second of the day to give the Setters a 10-goal lead. After a Mocs goal, Urraro notched her fifth goal of the game, followed by Corretjer's third to put Pace ahead 20-9 heading to the fourth quarter.
After no scoring through the first four minutes of the fourth, Florida Southern got the first goal of the period as McFerren scored once again. With 8:11 remaining, Porcello put in a free-position attempt to extend the lead to 21-10. Daleo scored once more on a free-position attempt with 5:46 to go, but that was the last goal the Mocs put up. Rafferty added a goal in the final minute as the Setters took a 22-11 victory to advance to the National Championship game for the first time in program history.
Rafferty spoke about the team's journey to get to the National Semifinal and how much of a challenge it was to get to this point. "I think we played some really tough teams in our conference. The NE10 is one of the toughest conferences in the country. We didn't have an easy ride here. We came up short in the NE10 Championship to Le Moyne but I think that was just fuel for us to keep riding this all the way to the end."
Urraro led Pace with five goals and one assist, while Corretjer and Rafferty had three goals and two assists apiece. Porcello scored five as well, and junior midfielder Julianna Febbraio (Carmel, N.Y./Carmel) picked up four ground balls to lead the team.
Up Next
The Setters will now play for the National Championship for the first time in program history, as Pace will face off with West Chester University Sunday, May 21. Game time is scheduled for 2 p.m.
