SALEM, Va. — The day-long delay for the NCAA Division III women’s lacrosse national championship game may have meant a few less spectators in the stands.

That was about the only difference.

As expected, Gettysburg and Middlebury proved to be an evenly matched final. But it was Gettysburg that had the difference-making run, scoring five out of six goals during a 10-minute stretch in the second half on the way to an 11-9 victory at Kerr Stadium on the campus of Roanoke College, giving the Bullets their second consecutive national title.

“What a day!” Bullets coach Carol Cantele said. “... It was a like defensive boxing match out there. A really great day.”

That’s a good description of how things went. The offenses on both sides were active and creating good scoring opportunities — Gettysburg and Middlebury combined to take 51 shots.

Meanwhile, the defenses had their runs as well. There were 26 turnovers in the game — most of those coming as a result of strong defensive sequences.

“Some championships tend to be a battle of defenses, but I thought this one would be a battle of offenses, and just how well we could find holes against their [man-to-man] defense,” said Middlebury coach Kate Livesay, whose Panthers were trying to win their second national championship in three seasons. “I actually thought our defense played real well today. They battled hard, created some [scoring] opportunities and made it hard for their offense to find shots.”

However, Livesay said what was concerning her the most as the game went on was the difference in the quality of shots Gettysburg was getting compared to Middlebury.

It was most evident during the Bullets’ second-half scoring spree. Gettysburg made five of seven shot attempt to build a five-goal lead. Meanwhile, Middlebury was just one of five during the same stretch.

“We struggled with their interior cuts all day,” Livesay said. “. ... They were just able to find [leading scorer Liza Barr], and we got hurt from some fouls we had.

“...They found a few holes, and we weren’t able to get any draws. And as a result they were able to extend (the lead) during a critical part of the game.”

The game, originally scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday, was delayed for a day due to day-long thunderstorm conditions in southwest Virginia. As most spring sport athletes will tell you, dealing with weather stoppages is part of the deal, and neither team thought their opponent had any kind of an advantage as a result.

And that certainly appeared to be the case for the entire first half.

Neither team led by more than two goals at any point before intermission, and the stats were extremely even.

But even while the game was close, Middlebury struggled to find a way to slow down Barr, who had scored a total of six goals in Gettysburg’s four previous postseason games. She found the back of the net five times on Monday.

“It was more about what my teammates were doing,” said Barr, a sophomore. “They were just setting me up. Almost all my goals were assisted, so it wouldn’t have happened without them.”

Even after building the lead, Gettysburg knew it was not safe. Middlebury has been a streaky team all season, and coming from behind is something the Panthers were used to by the time they arrived in Salem for the final weekend of the season.

Emma McDonagh scored back-to-back goals in a 15-second span that made the score 11-8 with 6:47 to play.

Middlebury’s Kirsten Murphy added her team’s ninth goal with 4:09 to play, and the Panthers were in position to cut the deficit to one goal with under three minutes to play, but a shot attempt by Grace Getman was stopped by Bullets goalie Baily Pilder, who finished 12 saves. Middlebury did not have possession of the ball again after that.

“We weren’t being as aggressive as we needed to be early (in the second half),” McDonagh said. “But at that point, we needed to score, and we started finding the holes that would allow us to do that.

“It helped that we’ve had a few games like this. We knew that we could come from behind, and everyone was saying that and believing it. But obviously, time was a factor.”

While this was Middlebury’s second national final appearance in three seasons, all-in-all, the amount of experience the Panthers had was limited. That could be an advantage in upcoming years.

Gettysburg midfielder Steph Colson said that even though she and 10 others who saw playing time on Monday played in last year’s national title game, the Bullets were also a much different team this time around.

“We stressed [all year] that we are not the same team,” she said. “We are a completely different team with new players. We’re a young team, but we have great leaders, also.

“... When one person gets down, everyone is picking them up.”

Cantele said a prime example of that was how the Bullets rallied around senior defender Ali Gorab, who became ill on Sunday night and was questionable to play on Monday.

Gorab did play the majority of the first half before the heat and humidity was too much for her to handle. She spent the rest of the game on the sidelines as backup Katrina Niedziela filled in.

“This is how our team has responded all year,” Cantele said.

As was the case on Saturday, Colson dominated draw controls for Gettysburg, getting nine of its 12. She also had three assists and one goal.

McDonagh led Middlebury with three goals and an assist. Panthers keeper Kate Furber made five saves.