Middlebury had to overcome a pair of three-goal deficits to beat Wesleyan on a late game-winning goal from Niki Mormile, but the Panthers remain undefeated and continue to hold the No. 1 spot in Nike/USA Lacrosse Division III Women’s Top 20.
Wesleyan gave Middlebury its first big scare this season with the 12-11 final score, as the Panthers’ next closest game was a four-goal margin. Middlebury got Mormile’s winner with about two minutes left and buckled down on defense to hold the lead, but the team bounced back with a dominant performance against Hamilton the next day.
Roanoke (8-3) joins the Top 20 in the last spot with Hamilton taking a dive lately and falling out of the ranking with five straight losses.
NIKE/USA LACROSSE
DIVISION III WOMEN’S TOP 20
April 11, 2022 |
W/L |
Prev |
Next |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Middlebury |
12-0 |
1 |
4/16 vs. No. 6 Colby |
|
2 |
Franklin & Marshall |
11-1 |
2 |
4/16 vs. Ursinus |
|
3 |
Salisbury |
10-2 |
3 |
4/16 vs. No. 12 York |
|
4 |
William Smith |
10-1 |
5 |
4/13 at No. 11 Ithaca |
|
5 |
TCNJ |
8-1 |
6 |
4/12 at Rowan |
|
6 |
Colby |
10-1 |
7 |
4/13 vs. No. 19 Bowdoin |
|
7 |
Tufts |
7-3 |
4 |
4/13 vs. Bates |
|
8 |
Gettysburg |
9-3 |
8 |
4/16 at Bryn Mawr |
|
9 |
Washington and Lee |
10-2 |
9 |
4/16 at Guilford |
|
10 |
St. Lawrence |
11-1 |
10 |
4/16 vs. RPI |
|
11 |
Ithaca |
10-1 |
11 |
4/13 vs. No. 4 William Smith |
|
12 |
York |
8-4 |
14 |
4/13 vs. Hood |
|
13 |
Wesleyan |
8-2 |
13 |
4/13 vs. Trinity |
|
14 |
Messiah |
9-3 |
16 |
4/13 vs. Stevenson |
|
15 |
SUNY Cortland |
7-4 |
18 |
4/13 vs. SUNY New Paltz |
|
16 |
SUNY Geneseo |
7-2 |
19 |
4/13 vs. SUNY Brockport |
|
17 |
Trinity |
7-3 |
20 |
4/13 at Wesleyan |
|
18 |
Pomona-Pitzer |
10-0 |
17 |
4/13 at Redlands |
|
19 |
Bowdoin |
8-4 |
15 |
4/13 at No. 6 Colby |
|
20 |
Roanoke |
8-3 |
NR |
4/12 at Bridgewater |
Also considered (alphabetical order): Amherst (7-4), SUNY Brockport (5-4), Catholic (7-4), Chicago (10-1), FDU-Florham (9-2), Haverford (8-3), Roger Williams (10-1)
Nike/USA Lacrosse Rankings
Division I Men | Division I Women
Division II Men | Division II Women
Division III Men | Division III Women
HOT
SUNY Cortland (+3)
The Red Dragons have won six straight since dropping back-to-back losses to Messiah and Salisbury, and they are off to an especially strong start to April with wins against No. 16 Geneseo and previously ranked St. John Fisher and Brockport.
Toni Cashman led Cortland in a 12-9 win over Brockport on Saturday, finishing with five goals and one assist, while Shelby Meduski added a season-high three goals. The Dragons never trailed in that game, but they had to make a fourth-quarter comeback to beat St. John Fisher, 12-8, on Wednesday.
Trinity (+3)
In a wild week for the NESCAC, the Bantams went 2-0 against conference foes, including a solid 16-14 win over Bowdoin, which now has four losses. Christine Taylor and Lily Ives each scored six goals to help Trinity outlast the Polar Bears.
Trinity doesn’t have a bad loss and has won four of its last five since back-to-back defeats against Geneseo and Middlebury. The other loss was to Tufts.
NOT
Tufts (-3)
The Jumbos are 1-2 in April after a stunning upset by unranked Amherst, which has four NESCAC losses this season, in overtime Sunday.
Amherst junior Fiona Jones scored with 36 seconds remaining in overtime to deliver Tufts a 9-8 loss. The Jumbos sent the game to overtime on Caroline Walter’s goal with 3:19 left in the fourth quarter but had three shots denied by Amherst goalkeeper Caroline Stole in the final three minutes of regulation.
Tufts, the 2021 Division III tournament runner-up, has experienced a lot of ups and downs already this season, beginning with a stunning loss to Colby in the opener. The Jumbos got back on track with six straight wins after that but couldn’t keep it going into April, which began with a loss to Middlebury.
Bowdoin (-4)
The Polar Bears opened April with wins against Amherst and Bates, but their 16-14 loss to Trinity on Saturday marked their fourth against NESCAC competition.
Trinity led by as many as six in the third quarter, but Bowdoin scored six times in a lightning-delayed fourth period to make it a two-point game and couldn’t draw any closer. Sophia Sudano led the Bears with four goals and two assists, Annabelle Gersch had three goals and an assist, and Fiona Bundy had a goal and four assists. Bowdoin seeks to bounce back against Colby on Wednesday.
IN
Roanoke (No. 20)
The Maroons (8-3) join the rankings this week after three straight wins, including a 16-15 victory over a solid FDU-Florham team on April 3. In their last outing, they beat seven-win Shenandoah 14-8. Roanoke trailed by one at the half. Tiernan Connor and Libby Bowman each scored three goals.
Roanoke’s three losses this season were against quality competition, including a one-goal loss to Catholic, four-goal defeat at Washington & Lee and a five-goal loss against York. Upcoming games against 11-win Meredith and Mary Washington should indicate more about where the Maroons stand.
OUT
Hamilton (No. 12)
The Continentals have lost three straight games, and although two of those were against top-six teams in Middlebury and Colby, a 13-12 defeat at three-win Bates on Saturday cost them their Top 20 ranking for now.
Hamilton held advantages in almost every statistical category, including in shots (37-24), ground balls (22-15), draw controls (14-11) and free-position shots (13-6). Olivia Seymour scored a career-high five goals with two assists, but it wasn’t enough. Bates scored three times in player-up situations and had as much as a six-goal lead in the third quarter.