ST. LOUIS – The UIndy women's lacrosse program is headed back to the national semifinals.
 
The second-seeded Greyhounds upended host Maryville by a score of 15-11 in Saturday's Midwest Region title game, winning their first regional title since 2022. Sophomore netminder Ava Graham made 13 saves between the pipes, while three Hounds – Kendall Conrad, Sage Da Silva, and Emily Ghazal – tallied a game-high four points.
 
Olivia Bladon joined Conrad and Ghazal with hat tricks, each of them capping it in the second half.
 
Saturday marked the fourth regional championship game in which UIndy played and first since 2023. The Greyhounds, who won the 2022 NCAA DII national title, made three consecutive appearances in the regional finale from 2021-23.
 
INS & OUTS
The top-seeded Saints came out firing, scoring four times since the first 10 minutes before the Hounds salvaged a goal. Malaena Michielin, who secured a game-best eight draw controls, opened the UIndy scoring to stop the bleeding, but Maryville bounced back to lead 5-1 late in the quarter.
 
At this point, head coach Peyton Romig yelled, "Ava! Make a save!" to the goalie Graham. The sophomore obliged, making seven saves and blanking the Saints for the next 23 minutes. UIndy rattled off seven straight goals and never looked back. Bladon and Conrad netted two apiece during the run, while Ally Savino scoring the half's final goal with 1:50 left.
 
UIndy never let Maryville back within three once Ghazal scored her first goal with four minutes remaining in the third quarter. The redshirt-sophomore scored again 27 seconds later to give the Greyhounds an 11-7 advantage.
 
The Hounds led by as many as six with 10 minutes left after Ella Fornek capitalized on a free-position attempt. The Saints scored three straight times after Fornek's score, but it was Ghazal that put an exclamation point on the victory with the game's final goal at the 1:41 mark.
 
INSIDE THE BOX
- Graham added five ground balls and one caused turnover to her impressive stat line.
- GLVC First Team selection Amanda Hurry was credited with a game-high three caused turnovers, while she and fellow defenders Hadlee DeCampos and Mariah Whitfield scooped up a pair of ground balls.
- UIndy upped its season clearing success rate to 91.7 percent, good for third in DII.
- Michielin won 21 draw controls over the season's three games against the Saints.
 
MORE NOTES
UIndy now leads the all-time series, 9-4 … the Saints, who have hosted the past two Midwest Region finale, lost last season to Regis in the title game … the Hounds have won the ground game in their first two NCAA tournament games, making 32 scoops compared to their opponents' 22.
 
UP NEXT
The Greyhounds await their seeding and opponent for the national semifinals, which are scheduled to begin Thursday in Salem, Va. Game time will be announced when official.