Previews Provided by MAC Athletic Communications Departments
MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- The 2026 Mid-American Conference Women's Lacrosse Championship begins today, April 30 with a pair of semifinal matches on the campus of Robert Morris University.
Postseason play begins with No. 1 UMass and No. 4 Robert Morris at 11 a.m. ET before the No. 2 Akron Zips face off with the No. 3 Eastern Michigan Eagles at 2 p.m. ET.
The 2026 MAC Women's Lacrosse Championship match is set for Saturday, May 2 at 12 p.m. ET against the winners of both semifinal matches.
All three matches throughout the championship will be broadcast on ESPN+.
No. 1 UMass vs. No. 4 Robert Morris
11:00 a.m. ET | Watch Live | Live Stats
No. 1 UMass Minutewomen
Preview story coming soon.
Hear from Head Coach Jana Drummond-
"I think with this brand new conference us joining in, it's been a lot of adapting, a lot of learning as we go, which I'm super proud of their adjustments just overcoming anything that comes with us the different travel, the different teams we're seeing, different opponents, this conference they're getting everyone's best game, it's really fun to see just making us better every day. For us using our speed athleticism right from the gun, you know, right now it's anyone playing, it could be their last game. I think just treating it that, playing super hard together just really playing as a family, that's one of our core values as a team. The more we do that, the more success we'll have. But also just play for each other, love each other, really connections on off the field will be key. Sideline to on the field, transition, working in the systems will be super important today limiting turnovers. I know that we've been talking about that, coming in strong, starting strong will be very important."
No. 4 Robert Morris Colonials
The Colonials clinched the No. 4 seed in the tournament after closing out the regular season with a 15-5 win over Detroit Mercy at home last Saturday.
In the win, RMU posted a season-high 15 goals, led by Mia Berthoff with four. Samantha Brothers, Taylor Cadeau, and Madison Prietz all recorded hat tricks in the win, each securing three goals apiece. Greta Burns and Amanda Dolis wrapped up the scoring, each posting one goal in the win. In the assist department, Lea Otts continues to dominate, with Otts posting a career-high six assists in the win over the Titans. Otts leads RMU with 26 assists on the season.
As a team, the Colonials took 35 shots on the afternoon, with 24 coming on goal. RMU was also nearly perfect in clears, going 21-for-23 on the afternoon.
In goal, Lucy Carney secured her fifth win of the season, moving to 5-6. Carney recorded seven saves in the win while allowing just five goals. RMU will head into the championship on a two-game win streak.
RMU finished the regular season with a 6-11 overall record and a 3-4 mark in the MAC. The Colonials are currently ranked fifth in the MAC for goals per game, with Mia Berthoff leading the way for RMU with 32 goals. Berthoff also leads the Colonials in points with 44 on the season and is just two shy of 100 points for her career. RMU is also top-five in the conference in assists per game, with RMU currently ranked fourth after posting 3.71 assists per game, led by freshman Lea Otts, who has a team-leading 26 assists as mentioned earlier.
This season, the Colonials had three players earn weekly honors in the regular season, with Anabel Kreydt being named the MAC Defensive Player of the Week on April 21, Lucy Carney being named MAC Goalkeeper of the Week on April 7, and Berthoff earning MAC Offensive Player of the Week honors back on February 23.
Hear from Robert Morris Head Coach Courtney Grove -
"Yeah, absolutely, we've had a lot of ups and downs, but they stuck together and we focused on ourselves, and I think once we started focusing on who we were, we got what we wanted and we were able to get back into the playoffs. We gotta move the ball, we gotta use our speed when we can and we have to take care of the 50-50 balls when they're on the field."
No. 2 Akron vs. No. 3 Eastern Michigan
2:00 p.m. ET | Watch Live | Live Stats
No. 2 Akron Zips
The Zips will be making their second straight postseason appearance when the squad battles Eastern Michigan on Thursday (May 1). Akron is 2-1 all-time in postseason play, including 2-0 in the MAC Tournament.
Sienna Hinchcliffe leads the Zips in goals (70), points (97), shots (143), shots on goal (102), while ranking second in ground balls (26), third in draw controls (46) and fourth in caused turnovers (15). Katie Baumer is second on the team in goals (37). Kellen Fletcher paces the squad in assists (31), while junior Kaitlyn Sikorski (Plymouth, Minn.) ranks fourth with 21. Heather Carey ranks third on the squad in goals netting 31. Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Adrianna Califano (Bellmore, N.Y.) has registered 85 saves, 24 ground balls and owns an 8.80 goals against average.
Akron garnered a program-record five All-Mid-American Conference selections when the league unveiled its 2026 award winners in a vote of the league coaches released on Wednesday (April 29).
Junior Sienna Hinchcliffe (Rochester, N.Y.) capped a brilliant regular season campaign with her selection as the league's Attacker of the Year. Senior Katie Baumer (Rochester, N.Y.) culminated her stellar season being honored as the MAC Midfielder of the Year.
The duo headlined the Zips' award winners as the pair was selected as First Team All-MAC honorees. Pulling in Second Team All-MAC laurels were seniors Sarah Baumer (Rochester, N.Y.) and Kellen Fletcher (Valencia, Pa.). Additionally, freshman Sienna Hinchcliffe (Rochester, N.Y.) was named to the MAC All-Freshman team.
Hear from Akron head coach Elaine Jones
"We've had a great season. We've put a lot of work in, a lot of time, a lot of effort to get where we are here. It was always our goal to return to this MAC tournament. We're excited to be here.
The keys to our success for today would be to control the tempo of the game. They have a good offense, they have a good defense. We just have to be able to execute when we have the ball and obviously keep track of our possessions and work hard both on and off the ball."
No. 3 Eastern Michigan Eagles
The Eastern Michigan University lacrosse team is set to compete in the 2026 Mid-American Conference Tournament as the Eagles will meet the University of Akron in the second of two semifinals inside Joe Walton Stadium in Moon Township, Pa., at 2 p.m. Thursday, April 30. The third-seeded Eagles (10-6, 5-2 MAC) and second-seeded Zips (11-4, 6-1 MAC) are meeting in the semifinals for the second consecutive year with Eastern looking for its first win in the tournament after falling in the semifinals in each of the past two events.
Eastern is 10-6 overall and finished 5-2 in MAC play to earn the No. 3 seed in the MAC Tournament. The Eagles closed out their regular season with a 16-4 win at Youngstown State, April 25.
The win over the Penguins was the 10th of the season for the Eagles, marking their first time reaching a double-digit win total in program history. The previous record for single-season victories was eight set last year.
The Eagles posted a program-record five wins in MAC play, surpassing the 4-2 records posted in each of the past two seasons.
Eastern enters the 2026 MAC Tournament looking for its first postseason victory after falling in the semifinals each of the past two seasons. The Eagles fell to Robert Morris, 12-11, in Mt. Pleasant, Mich., in the 2024 event before falling to Akron, 16-4, last year in Moon Township, Pa.
The Eagles’ win against Robert Morris (April 18) marked the sixth time this year, and the second time in MAC play, Eastern has defeated an opponent for the first time in program history with both MAC wins (14-9 over Central Michigan) snapping 0-4 starts in the series. The other wins came against previously played opponents in Xavier and Oregon and newcomers in Lindenwood and Austin Peay.
Eastern is making its third consecutive appearance in the MAC Tournament in just its fourth varsity season. The Eagles made their debut at the No. 3 seed in 2024 and lost to Robert Morris, 12-11, in Mount Pleasant, Mich. Eastern, as the No. 2 seed, faced Akron last year in Moon Township, Pa., and fell, 16-4.
With its 16-4 win at Youngstown State, April 25, in its regular season finale, Eastern recorded its 10th victory of the year, marking the first time in program history the Eagles have reached double-digit wins. Heading into the game, the best record held by the Eagles came last year with an 8-9 record. Standing 10-6 ahead of the MAC Tournament, the Eagles are guaranteed their first winning record in program history this season.
Hear from EMU head coach Maddie Dugan
"I think our regular season we played some tough opponents that pushed us early on and we've had some really good conference games that have challenged us and given us some success, and we're just really excited to show up today and work hard.
"Some keys to the game is we're going to go hard and we're going to go fast. Like we want to play fast and we want to share the ball a lot and play together as a team."
