Jane Earley and Middlebury remain unchallenged in Division III — for now.

Middlebury Strengthens Hold on No. 1 in Nike/USA Lacrosse D-III Women's Top 20

April 10, 2023

Laurel Pfahler

Kevin P. Tucker

The top six teams in the Nike/USA Lacrosse Division III Women’s Top 20 all held steady with perfect weeks, and overall, there wasn’t a ton of movement throughout the group.

Franklin & Marshall moved down two spots but only because of Wesleyan’s four-spot climb to No. 8 after a 10-goal victory over then-No. 13 Amherst. That came despite the Cardinals’ loss to Middlebury on Saturday, as they otherwise have done well in conference play.

Trinity and Williams both climbed over Roanoke and Amherst, but Amherst’s two losses last week caused a further drop, now ranked below Roanoke. Chicago was the only newcomer to the Top 20, moving in at 8-2 and pushing Pomona-Pitzer out for now.

NIKE/USA LACROSSE
DIVISION III WOMEN’S TOP 20

	April 10, 2023	W/L	Prev	Next
1	Middlebury	11-0	1	4/11 at Plymouth State
2	William Smith	11-0	2	4/12 vs. Ithaca
3	Washington and Lee	11-1	3	4/15 vs. Virginia Wesleyan
4	Tufts	8-2	4	4/12 at Bates
5	Salisbury	8-3	5	4/15 vs. Mary Washington
6	Gettysburg	9-3	6	4/15 at Haverford
7	TCNJ	9-2	8	4/11 vs. Rowan
8	Wesleyan	8-2	12	4/12 at No. 13 Trinity (Conn.)
9	Franklin & Marshall	9-3	7	4/15 at Washington (Md.)
10	York	8-3	9	4/12 at Alvernia
11	Messiah	9-2	10	4/15 vs. Lebanon Valley
12	Colby	8-3	11	4/12 at Bowdoin
13	Trinity (Conn.)	9-2	15	4/12 vs. No. 8 Wesleyan
14	Williams	9-1	16	4/11 vs. Hamilton
15	Roanoke	9-2	14	4/12 at Lynchburg
16	Amherst	7-3	13	4/12 at Connecticut College
17	St. John Fisher	7-2	17	4/12 vs. Alfred
18	Stevens	10-1	18	4/12 at Arcadia
19	Kenyon	10-0	19	4/11 at Wittenberg
20	Chicago	8-2	NR	4/12 vs. Carthage

Also considered (alphabetical order): Cortland, Mary Washington, MIT, Pomona-Pitzer, St. Lawrence, Union

Nike/US Lacrosse Rankings

Division I Men | Division I Women
Division II Men | Division II Women
Division III Men | Division III Women

HOT

Wesleyan (+4)

The Cardinals have bounced back from their one-goal loss to Colby to collect three wins in conference play, including a 17-7 win over former No. 13 Amherst. They fell to Middlebury 16-9 on Saturday, but the Panthers have beaten others by worse in their perfect start. In fact, Wesleyan played them to the same score as No. 4 Tufts.

Had it not been for that loss to Colby, the Cardinals would have been ranked higher previously, but now it’s looking more like a mere blip on their resume.

Against Amherst, Wesleyan had 10 unforced errors and still rolled thanks to a dominant middle two periods of the game when the Cardinals amassed 13 goals. Kendall Mittleman led the attack with four goals, Katie Balicki added three goals and one assist and goalkeeper Abby Wolk needed just five saves in her 35-plus minutes to earn the win.

Trinity (+2)

A week after jumping into the rankings, Trinity is on the rise again with the help of a lopsided win over Bowdoin and two other teams dropping games. The Bantams put up 10 goals in the second quarter and rolled to a 22-8 win at Bowdoin Saturday, as Molly McGuckin netted seven points on six goals and an assist and Brooke Kurtz added six points on two goals and four assists.

Trinity also beat Connecticut State last week, after a Top 20 win over St. Lawrence had put them into the rankings.

NOT

Amherst (-3)

The Mammoths slid down after a pair of losses last week, including the blowout against Wesleyan and an overtime loss to Colby. Their early season win against Ithaca had seemed notable at the time, but the Bombers have completely dropped out of the rankings with recent losses to Vassar and Union.

A win over Colby might have changed the outlook. Amherst rallied from a six-goal deficit to force overtime but couldn’t get over the hump from there, and Julia Jardina punched in the winner to lift the Mules to victory.

IN

Chicago (No. 20)

The final spot in the rankings keeps changing, but Chicago is back in after rebounding from back-to-back losses to Kenyon and Colby with three straight wins. The Maroons needed overtime to beat Colorado College on Saturday but topped Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 16-7 the previous day.

Lulu Hardy netted the overtime winner against Colorado College, and that was her sixth of the game. Camille Kuwana added four goals and an assist, and Rachel Keefe made 12 saves. Colorado scored two goals in the final three minutes of regulation to force overtime.

OUT

Pomona-Pitzer (was No. 20)

The Sagehens continue blowing out their competition, but they haven’t been challenged by the schedule much. When they were, they didn’t have an answer for Wesleyan back on March 13. A game against Colorado had to be rescheduled for April 27, two days before the second matchup is set to take place, so those games could be a better indicator of where Pomona stands.

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