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OT & Three-Peat
While everyone was focused in on the DI semifinals in last weekend, two other NCAA men’s lacrosse championship games were being played right there on the same field. And they were both incredible.
Sunday at Scott Stadium: Tampa pulled off one of the best comebacks you’ll see all year to win the D2 title in overtime. And Tufts finished a three-peat that puts them in rare company in D3 history.
Let’s talk about both.
D2: Tampa 12, Adelphi 11 (OT) — The Revenge Tour Completes
Down 5-1 in the first quarter. Against a team that had beaten them in overtime for the championship a year ago. Against a program that came in 19-0 18-0 and was going for its third straight D2 title.
Tommy Ortega didn’t care.
The University of Tampa rallied from four goals down to beat Adelphi 12-11 in overtime, avenging last year’s heartbreak in the most satisfying way possible — same opponent, same format, different outcome.
Ortega scored the game-tying goal in the fourth quarter. Then scored the game-winner with 2:25 left in overtime. Hat trick. Championship. Most Outstanding Player. Not a bad Sunday afternoon.
Rex Kesselring was the engine all game — four goals, an assist, six ground balls, constant pressure. When Tampa needed to cut into Adelphi’s lead, he delivered. Aaron Cho chipped in a goal and an assist. Zack Friend’s unassisted goal with 6:12 left in the fourth started the final three-goal run that forced overtime. And faceoff man MP Thomas won 15 of 27 draws while collecting 10 ground balls — that’s the kind of possession control that changes games.
The credit goes up top too. Head coach J.B. Clarke won his fifth national championship Sunday, including Tampa’s only two D2 titles (’22 and now ’26). Five championships. That name deserves to be in the conversation.
Adelphi had the lead with under nine minutes left and still couldn’t close it out. Kyle Lewis and Braden Donnellan were excellent for the Panthers, but Tampa’s defense held them scoreless in the final nine minutes of regulation and all of overtime. When a team this good can’t score when they need it most, you have to credit the defense for suffocating them.
This is what D2 lacrosse looks like at its best — two elite programs, a rivalry built over consecutive championship games, and an overtime finish that had everyone in Charlottesville on their feet.
D3: Tufts 17, RIT 11 — The Jumbos Make It Three Straight
Meanwhile, down the road on the same field, Tufts went out and did what Tufts does.
Three consecutive D3 national championships. Six total. An 85-5 record across four years for this senior class. They are the first program to three-peat in D3 since Salisbury in 2003-2005, and the way they’ve done it — with an offense that scores at will and a culture built on continuity — feels like it could keep going.
Jack Regnery finished the day with three goals and two assists and was named the Most Outstanding Player. That’s almost an undersell — over his four years, Regnery scored 61 goals in NCAA Tournament games, the all-time D3 record. Brooks Hauser added three goals and two assists. Sophomore goalkeeper Jack Old stopped 17 shots. Faceoff man Victor Salcedo went 9-for-15 with six ground balls.
RIT made it interesting early. The Tigers rallied twice in the first half to keep it within reach before Tufts pulled away, leading 11-6 at halftime and never looking back. By the end of the third quarter it was 16-11. A Cole Friedlander empty-netter on a 10-man ride sealed it.
Head coach Casey D’Annolfo said it best after the game: “I love this senior class so much. It’s been a pretty incredible journey with this group — 85-5 record across four years, and just enjoyed every minute of it. And just so proud that the end of their freshman year we walked off the field having lost a national championship, and I think it’s pretty cool that they get to walk off as a senior class winning the national championship.”
Came in as freshmen watching someone else lift the trophy. Left as three-time champions.
Championship Weekend delivered. Every single game.