INDIANAPOLIS – Last season, the University of Indianapolis women's lacrosse team suffered a heartbreaking loss to Lindenwood in the Regional Final which ended another successful season. Nearly a year later, the Greyhounds have re-written the history books and will now make an appearance in the NCAA Division II Final Four for the first time in program history after a 13-9 victory over Grand Valley State on Sunday afternoon in the Midwest Region title game.
 
PROTECT OUR HOUSE
With the win this afternoon, the women's lacrosse team has now won a staggering 45 straight games at home. It marks the fourth consecutive season the Greyhounds have rolled out an undefeated home slate, with the last home loss coming on February 10, 2018.
 

HOW IT HAPPENED
A slow start by UIndy propelled GVSU forward to a 2-0 lead early in the first quarter. However, the Greyhounds answered with a pair of goals by freshman Riley Taylor to tie the contest back up. Each team would trade a pair of goals in the final five minutes but it was the Lakers who successfully grabbed the 4-3 advantage heading into the second quarter after netting a goal with just nine seconds remaining in the opening frame.
 
Holding on to a slim lead, the Lakers netted another to open up the second quarter to extend their lead to two. Despite this, UIndy caught fire in the final 10 minutes and rolled out five unanswered goals to take an 8-5 advantage into the halftime locker room. In that dominating stretch of play, the Greyhounds spread the scoring around to five different players in Peyton Romig, Kylee Manser, Sarah Klein, Abigail Lagos, and Christina Sato.
 
Staying strong heading into the second half, the Hounds punched in two more goals in the third to go up by five. However, Grand Valley State went on a small run of its own with three unanswered between the late stages of the third and early portions of the fourth. Holding steady with the lead, UIndy capped off the win with three unanswered goals from Romig, Klein, and Manser in the final three minutes of the game. GVSU answered with a lone goal at 44 seconds but it wasn't nearly enough.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
-Klein tallied a hat trick by netting three goals while Romig, Manser, and Taylor were right behind their teammate with two each.
-The trio of Romig, Kara Antonucci, and Joey Fowler each corralled a pair of ground balls in the contest to lead UIndy. Both teams tallied 11 each.
-Quinn Malcolm set her new season-high with four caused turnovers to lead the Hounds on defense.

HOUND BYTES
Head coach James Delaney on his teams performance on Sunday...
"This team has so much fortitude, they are relentless and they truly are a group that won't be denied.  They work so hard every single day, we push them hard as coaches and they always want more.  I couldn't be more proud of the complete team effort.  I think something that separates our program is the full team that we are and every single day people are stepping up and making plays.  I just can't be more proud of them and this massive accomplishment."

On the competitiveness of the Midwest Region...
"Credit to all three programs and all three coaching staffs.  They are the reason why these four programs in our regional were ranked in the Top 10 for most of the year.  There's amazing players on each team and so much talent on the field.  We knew it was going to be an absolute battle to get out of this region on top and fortunately we were the team that found a way to get it done."

On the 45-game win streak at Key Stadium...
 "Our fans down the stretch here have been incredible.  All the big games they have come out and supported us.  That's what separates UIndy- I think the coaches, student-athletes and whole department supporting each other is special.  All the family and friends in the stands has made it a unique environment where we've found a lot of success.  It's been four years since we've lost a home game here and that says a lot not only about the players, but the culture of the campus."

Looking ahead to the NCAA semifinals...
"I think we just need to soak this in and tomorrow we'll focus on getting ready.  That's been our motto all year.  We'll go back to practice this week, look at some film, and make sure we're dotting our i's and crossing our t's to improve going into this final weekend."
 
UP NEXT
The Final Four will take place in St. Charles, MO this weekend, hosted by Lindenwood University.  After re-seeding the bracket, the Hounds are the No. 3 seed and will face the No. 2 seed Adelphi University in the second semifinal at 8 pm ET on Friday.  The first semifinal at 5 pm ET will feature the No. 1 seed East Stroudsburg versus No. 4 seed Queens.  The two winning teams will face off in the National Championship at 3 pm ET on Sunday.