In 17 of the last 24 seasons, either Middlebury or Salisbury has played in the NCAA Division III women’s lacrosse championship game. Amazingly, despite a prolonged run of success by both programs, Sunday was the first time they met with the title on the line.

But it was someone with no NCAA title game experience that played one of the biggest roles as Middlebury downed Salisbury 14-9 at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Va., to capture the school’s seventh national championship.

Middlebury freshman Jane Earley scored four goals and helped the Panthers hold onto the ball, tying her career-high with nine draw controls.

Earley scored over 400 goals in her high school career at Falmouth (Mass.) Academy and was at one time committed to Division I powerhouse Boston College before deciding to play at the Division III level instead. She found the right fit for academics, athletics and overall experience at Middlebury.

“I came to Middlebury because I wanted to win the national championship, so to be able to do that is a dream come true,” Earley said. “Sometimes it is hard to be a freshman, but I think our seniors were so welcoming and led us by example and didn’t make us feel like freshmen at all.”

Her rookie season with the Panthers has lived up to the expectations. Earley finished second on the team in scoring with 51 goals and 68 points and came up big when it mattered most.

In a 10-9 victory over Tufts for the NESCAC championship, Earley had a hand in eight of the 10 goals with five goals and three assists. In the first four NCAA tournament games, she scored 11 goals, including four goals and two assists in the regional championship game win over Franklin & Marshall.

On Sunday, Earley scored three of Middlebury’s first five goals to help the Panthers to a 5-2 lead that eventually reached 8-2.

“I do think we came in really composed, started out the game strong, took an early lead, which I think really set us at ease,” said Middlebury head coach Kate Livesay, who won her second national championship as Middlebury’s head coach and third overall title after also winning one as Trinity’s coach in 2012. “Scoring first in the championship game is an important step in getting nerves down. I was really happy to see us take that lead and just get into our groove from the start.”

Salisbury scored two goals in the final three minutes of the first half to cut Middlebury’s lead to 8-4 at the break.

Earley helped stop the momentum, picking up a loose ball in stride in front of the goal, burying her fourth goal to give Middlebury a 9-4 lead just 45 seconds into the second half.

But then Salisbury’s defense tightened up. The Seagulls, despite losing one of their top all-around players — junior Taylor Poore — to two first-half yellow cards, got timely saves from Skye Graham and a lockdown effort from the back line to hold Middlebury scoreless for the next 14 minutes.

It was an impressive effort from a team playing in its first championship game since 2014, when it won its third national title, all under current head coach Jim Nestor.

Sophomore Emma Skoglund’s goal with 21 minutes left in the second half pulled Salisbury to within just two goals at 9-7.

One of the key things slowing Salisbury’s comeback was Middlebury’s performance on the draw. Salisbury won 7 of 12 in the first half, but Earley helped turn the tables.

“We struggled a little more on the draw than we would have liked,” Livesay said. “That was a part of the game that we weren’t able to establish the kind of momentum we have sometimes enjoyed through this NCAA run.”

In the second half, Middlebury won 9 of 12. Casey O’Neill took the draws for the Panthers and Earley was huge. She had six of her draw controls in the second half, winning four straight at one point.

Salisbury had a chance to get within one, but a false start on an off-ball player on a free position shot turned the ball over to Middlebury. At the other end, Emma McDonagh ended the Middlebury scoring drought on a goal with the shot clock winding down to put the Panthers up 10-7 with 14:50 to play.

On the next possession, Salisbury got another free position opportunity, but Middlebury junior goalie Julia Keith came up with a save. Keith was solid all day, making nine saves to prevent Salisbury from ever putting together a big run.

After Courtney Fegan scored for Salisbury to make it 11-8 with 10:23 to play, McDonagh, a senior that led the team in scoring with 63 goals and 81 points for the season, ignited a three-goal run to put the game out of reach.

McDonagh won a national title as a freshman in 2016, but was on the losing end of last year’s title game loss to Gettysburg.

“It definitely feels just as good,” said McDonagh of her second national title. “I’m so happy this team gets to experience it. I was sitting here last year feeling a lot different.”

McDonagh made sure that didn’t happen. She scored goals at 6:50 and 4:46 and then assisted Henley Hall’s goal with 3:10 to play.

After Hall’s goal, the game was delayed for nearly 90 minutes due to lightning in the area. It prolonged the wait for the celebration but was a far cry from last year when the championship game was delayed for a full day due to weather before Gettysburg edged Middlebury 11-9 for the title.

Coming out of the break, Salisbury’s Skoglund scored a man-up goal with 46 seconds left, but the Panthers ran out the clock to celebrate a national championship and their 22^nd consecutive victory after opening the season with an overtime loss to conference rival Bates.

“We’re going to enjoy this one, because it is hard work,” Livesay said. “We had a tough first go with Bates back in March. After the game, we said, ‘It’s better to lose the first game than the last.’”