The Oakland Women’s Lacrosse Team won their third consecutive Women’s Collegiate Lacrosse League conference championship on April 16, and will now head back to Scottsdale, Ariz. to compete in the National Championships trying to get redemption after an eighth place last year.

At the conference championships, the Lady Grizzlies (13-3, No. 10 in Div. II) defeated Augustana in the quarterfinals 13-3, and then beat Dayton in the semifinals 13-10.

The finals were a rematch of last year as OU played then undefeated Aquinas who had outscored their opponents during the year by a wide 302-64 margin coming in to the game. The Saints were motivated as well by the fact that last year’s game ended in a dramatic overtime loss to Oakland and were looking for revenge.

The Grizzlies built a solid lead early and held off a furious rally to win 9-8, clinching an automatic qualifier bid to the National Championships. When the original bracket came out, OU had garnered the No. 8 seed and thought they would play the top-seeded Westminster Griffins in the first round, but after St. Benedict dropped out of the running, they moved up a spot.

Oakland now has the No. 7 seed and will play second-ranked Chapman from Orange County, Calif. in the first round. Chapman has the top power rating in Div. II and comes in undefeated at 15-0.

If the Grizzlies can defeat Chapman and move on, the next round could bring a very familiar opponent for OU. Third-ranked Southern Methodist defeated Oakland last year in a heartbreaking one-goal loss, and has already won against the team this year at the Lonestar Showdown in Austin, TX.

The National Championships start Thursday, May 5 and continue through Saturday.