Gettysburg, Middlebury Advance to NCAA Division III Women's Championship Game

SALEM, Va. – Undefeated teams each played in the NCAA Division III women’s  lacrosse semifinals Friday. Only one of them made it to Sunday’s championship.

That will be defending national champion Middlebury College, which stopped Franklin & Marshall 22-13 in the first semifinal at Roanoke College’s Kerr Stadium. Gettysburg used a big second quarter and a strong closing finish to take out previously blemish-free William Smith 15-10 in the second game.

The result will be a noon matchup between teams that have won five of the last six national titles. The  Panthers (21-0) claiming crowns in 2022, 2019, and 2016. The Bullets (19-4) won 2017 and 2018. Middlebury has eight national crowns. Gettysburg will be in hopes of its fourth.

Both programs’ winning heritage were likely factors in Friday’s outcomes. Herons’ coach Anne Phillips, who has 252 career victories in 21 seasons, the last eight at her current post, saw it that way for her team’s game with Gettysburg. William Smith last made it this far decades ago.

“I can’t coach experience,” she said.

Nor is speed, quickness and athleticism easily coached. Middlebury showed plenty of all three not to mention tremendous decision making to stop Franklin & Marshall, national champs in 2007 and 2009. After an early 2-2 deadlock, the Panthers never trailed.

The Diplomats (18-4) gave it everything they had. Middlebury maintained control throughout.

“I feel like every time we tried to take a step away from F&M they came right back,” Panthers coach Kate Livesay said. “I was very impressed with the fight I saw from them with three man-down goals. I can’t say enough about how aggressive they were getting to the cage. They really pushed our D.”

Middlebury led 22-12 – its largest advantage – before Maddy Birch rippled the net for the Diplomats late to make the final margin.

“We knew we had our work cut out for us but I thought we prepared well all week,” Franklin & Marshall coach Mike Faith said.

There were no Diplomats answers for the Panthers’ attackers Jane Earley and midfielder Hope Shue. The two of them combined for 14 points, with Earley contributing a game-high five goals. Shue, a sophomore, added four goals and three assists.

After the early tie the Panthers immediately responded with three-straight goals, two of them from Earley.

“At that point I had settled in and I knew driving was going to be really important today so I thought when we were comfortable out there it was time to kick it into gear,” Earley said.

The Panthers led 12-5 at intermission, which is probably as comfortable as anybody could be at that point in a playoff game. The Diplomats found more offensive opportunities in the second half but still could not thwart the opposing attack, which contributed 10 more goals to the total after the break.

Middlebury outshot the Dips 37-24, controlled three more draws and won the turnover battle 12-16. The ground-ball clash also went in the Panthers’ favor 16-11.

Four players scored for the Panthers, with Maggie Coughlin netting three goals and Kelcey Dion two more. Goalkeeper Annie Enrietto faced 24 shots and had six saves for the winners.

In the second game there was a a tie and a lead change before Gettysburg surged to a 9-4 halftime lead.  After the Bullets pushed the lead to 10-4 early in the third quarter the Herons (21-1) scored the next four goals to slice the deficit to two.

Gettysburg then came back with the next three goals and were thereafter never threatened. A 4-2 fourth quarter closed the deal.

“Our mindset changed from the beginning of the season when we were playing timid and scared,” Bullets midfielder Essie Pasternak said. “Our mindset toward the end of the season is we are playing to win and not playing not to lose.”

Jordan Basso and Julia Daly teamed for 11 of Gettysburg’s goals, six by Basso to go with an assist. Caroline Sullivan contributed a game-best four assists.

Natalie Daniels’ four goals led William Smith.

In the end, the Herons’ Phillips said the pressure and lack of seasoning contributed to her team’s disappointing performance.

“If we had played as well as we can play it might have been a different game.”