Lafayette Cruise Past Holy Cross 4-0 to Reach the Patriot League Final
Four goals, four different scorers, and a clean sheet. Lafayette’s semifinal was everything a top seed’s semifinal is supposed to be.
The No. 15-ranked Leopards beat Holy Cross 4-0 at Rappolt Field on Thursday, and they never looked like losing it. Lena Thedrian opened the scoring in the eighth minute, Katie Jackivicz made it two before half-time, Elsa Wood added a third in the fourth quarter and Laila Pasic finished it off with six minutes left. One goal in every quarter. That’s a team in control.
It was a fitting way to cap a regular season that has been Lafayette’s best in years. They finished 15-2 and a perfect 6-0 in the Patriot League, winning the regular-season title for the first time since 2012, and they’ve now turned Rappolt Field into the place the whole tournament runs through. Thedrian, the league’s Defender of the Year, led a defence that has been the best in the conference all season, and the attack did the rest.
Holy Cross can hold their heads up. The Crusaders finished 9-6 and reached the postseason for the first time since the spring of 2021, and they earned their place with a 1-0 win over American in the regular-season finale. But they ran into a side that beat them 1-0 back in September and has only gotten better since. There was no way through on Thursday.
The final is Saturday at noon at Rappolt Field, against the winner of Thursday’s second semifinal between second-seeded American and third-seeded Boston University. The Terriers are the defending champions and they beat Lafayette in last year’s final, so a rematch would carry some real sting. Either way, Lafayette will fancy their chances. They’ve won 15 games, they’ve won them at home, and on Thursday they looked every inch the team to beat.
