Women's Lacrosse Tops Willamette To Win NWC Title

Willamette WILLAMET 8-10, 5-3

Whitman WHITMAN 13-6, 7-1

Willamette WILLAMET

8-10, 5-3

Final

May. 03, 2026

Whitman WHITMAN

13-6, 7-1

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	3	4	F
Willamette WILLAMET	2	2	0	2	6
Whitman WHITMAN	3	1	4	2	10

Summary
Box Score

George Fox Athletics

Game Recap: Women's Lacrosse | 5/3/2026 3:49:00 PM

Women's Lacrosse Tops Willamette To Win NWC Title

NEWBERG, Ore. – The Whitman College women's lacrosse team stormed into the history books Sunday, racing past Willamette 10-6 to capture the program's first-ever Northwest Conference Tournament championship at Austin Sports Complex.

The Northwest Conference title was the first tournament or regular season crown for the program. Women's lacrosse was adopted as a conference sport in 2015 and authored its first postseason tournament only in 2024.

Lola McConaghy powered the attack with a game-high three goals, and Ellie Milesi added two goals and an assist as the Blues broke open a halftime tie with a dominant third quarter to secure the title. Goalie Renn Novak anchored a stout defensive effort with nine saves as Whitman finished the day with advantages in shots (26–15), draw controls (12–6) and ground balls (25–20).

Whitman led 3-2 after the first quarter behind free-position goals from McConaghy and Lindsey Pasena-Littlesky and an even-strength strike from Molly Labhart off a feed from Sarah Hawkins.

Willamette answered in the second, capitalizing on a pair of goals from Claire Kisielnicki and Alex Warfel's late tally to send the teams to the break knotted at 4-4 despite an early woman-up goal from Milesi.

The championship swung decisively in the third. Emily Odegaard finished a feed from Milesi to restore the Whitman lead, McConaghy buried her second and third goals in quick succession, and Serafin Miller ripped a free-position shot to cap a four-goal quarter that pushed the Blues in front 8-4. Novak and the Whitman defense slammed the door, holding the Bearcats scoreless over the entire period while the Blues won 4 of 4 draws.

Willamette briefly trimmed the deficit to 8-5 early in the fourth, but Whitman had the answer again. McConaghy completed her hat trick off a pinpoint pass from Miller, and, after a late woman-up strike by the Bearcats, Grace Galanes sprinted through the defense and scored with 11 seconds remaining to punctuate the championship victory.

Galanes finished with a goal and four ground balls, while Miller totaled a goal, an assist and a game-high five draw controls to earn key minutes all over the field. Pasena-Littlesky chipped in a goal and assist, and Hawkins added an assist and three ground balls as Whitman converted 3 of 4 free-position opportunities and went 17-for-21 on clears.

Warfel and Kisielnicki each scored twice for Willamette, and goalkeeper Olivia Austin made eight saves in the loss. With the win, Whitman improves to 13-6 overall and 7-1 against conference opponents, clinching the program's inaugural NWC crown and an automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Championship. The NCAA will announce its tournament field in a live selection show on Monday, May 4 at 7:30 a.m. Pacific Time.

#GoWhitman

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Scoring Summary
Scoring Play	Home Team Score
1st Period		WILLAMET	WHITMAN
10:30	WHITMAN - Lola McConaghy	0	1
09:54	WILLAMET - Alex Warfel	1	1
08:09	WHITMAN - Molly Labhart Assisted by Sarah Hawkins	1	2
05:43	WILLAMET - Claire Kisielnicki	2	2
01:41	WHITMAN - L. Pasena-Littlesky	2	3
2nd Period		WILLAMET	WHITMAN
12:01	WHITMAN - Ellie Milesi	2	4
10:53	WILLAMET - Claire Kisielnicki	3	4
00:12	WILLAMET - Alex Warfel	4	4
3rd Period		WILLAMET	WHITMAN
08:58	WHITMAN - Emily Odegaard Assisted by Ellie Milesi	4	5
08:18	WHITMAN - Lola McConaghy Assisted by L. Pasena-Littlesky	4	6
07:07	WHITMAN - Serafin Miller	4	7
00:08	WHITMAN - Ellie Milesi	4	8
4th Period		WILLAMET	WHITMAN
08:08	WILLAMET - Brooklynn Pearl	5	8
06:34	WHITMAN - Lola McConaghy Assisted by Serafin Miller	5	9
00:35	WILLAMET - Priya Mistry Assisted by Shelby Wilkinson	6	9
00:11	WHITMAN - Grace Galanes	6	10