CHICAGO, Ill. --- The Aurora University women's lacrosse wrapped up its 2026 season on Friday afternoon in the NCAA Division III Championship, falling to Hope College by a final score of 20-5 in Chicago. The Spartans finished the season with a 12-9 overall record and a NACC Tournament Championship after earning the program's NCAA Tournament appearance.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Hope College 20, Aurora University 5
RECORDS: Aurora University 12-9 overall 
LOCATION: The University of Chicago - Chicago, Illinois

HOW IT HAPPENED
- Hope opened the game with back-to-back goals in the opening three minutes before adding a free-position goal at the 8:54 mark of the first quarter to take an early 3-0 lead.
- Nicolina Smith got the Spartans on the board midway through the first quarter after finishing a pass from Ava Courtney to cut the deficit to 3-1.
- The Flying Dutch responded with four more goals before the end of the opening frame, including two man-down goals within a 30-second span, to take a 7-1 advantage into the second quarter.
- Hope continued to pressure offensively in the second period, extending the lead to 10-1 with 2:20 remaining in the half.
- Smith answered for Aurora with her second goal of the afternoon just over a minute later after forcing a turnover and scoring on the offensive end to make it 10-2.
- With two seconds left before halftime, Amelia Bell found the back of the net on an unassisted goal to send the Spartans into the break trailing 11-3.
- Hope scored four consecutive goals to open the third quarter and pushed the lead to 15-3 following a man-up goal midway through the period.
- Aurora answered late in the quarter when Tori Morales scored off another assist from Courtney with under two minutes remaining in the third quarter.
- Courtney added a goal of her own early in the fourth quarter after creating space and scoring unassisted to make it 16-5.
- Defensively, Sarah Brown led the Spartans with four ground balls and three caused turnovers, while Alle Pope added four ground balls and two caused turnovers.

SPARTAN LEADERS
Points: Ava Courtney (3)
Goals: Nicolina Smith (2)
Assists: Ava Courtney (2)
Ground balls: Sarah Brown (4)
Caused Turnovers: Sarah Brown (3) 
Saves: Meghan Ginty (7)
 
UP NEXT
The Spartans finished the season with a 12-9 overall record after winning the 2026 NACC Tournament Championship and making an appearance in the NCAA Division III Championship.