DARTMOUTH — Lena Tsonis knows how to finish strong. The New Bedford native capped her high school softball career at Greater New Bedford Voc-Tech with a Div. 3 state championship in 2022. Now, she's ending her college career the same way: as a champion.

As a senior at UMass Dartmouth, Tsonis helped the Corsairs capture the Little East Conference (LEC) championship on May 10 — the program's second conference title. It's a moment she calls "full circle."

"At Voke, I ended up winning the state finals as a senior, and now as a senior at UMass Dartmouth, winning my conference finals; it's like a full circle moment," said the 22-year-old Tsonis. "The last years in my high school and college careers, I made it to the top, and it meant everything to get that ring."

With the LEC title, UMass Dartmouth punched its ticket to the NCAA Division III tournament for the fourth time in program history and the second time in four years. For Tsonis, who walked onto the team as a freshman nursing student, the journey has been especially sweet.

"It's great that me and my other senior classmates got to start with a win our freshman year and also end it with a win and make it back to the tournament," she said. "In my freshman year, we ended up losing the first two games, but it was honestly a great experience to see that level of play and what it takes to be the best in the country."

Now, Tsonis and the Corsairs (30-11) are ready for another shot at greatness. Under third-year head coach Rachael Powers, UMD will face Stockton University on May 14 at 1:30 p.m. in the opening double-elimination regional round at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Stockton (30-7) earned an at-large bid to the tournament, and the matchup marks just the third all-time meeting between the two programs.

But Tsonis isn't intimidated. With momentum on their side, she believes the Corsairs are primed for a deep run.

"We're on such a high right now as a team, and we have so much power — everyone is so excited to be there," she said. "Obviously our team's goal is to win it all. We want to win this regional."