In Lexington, Va., top-ranked William Smith won its 17th consecutive game, beating Colorado College 18-13 to earn its first trip to the NCAA quarterfinals since 2003. The game was tied 11-11 in the second half before the Herons scored five straight goals, including three in a row by Alexandra Bird, to pull away.
Bird, Melissa Moore and Allie Flaherty all had four goals and an assist for William Smith (20-1), which had a season-high 18 goals in the win. Colorado College (15-5) was led by Steph Kelly with seven points on two goals and five assists.
The Herons will play at Washington and Lee on Sunday. In a game that began at 2:30 wrapped up well more than six hours later due to weather delays, W&L edged Catholic 9-6. Hayley Soutter had four goals and an assist for the Generals (18-1). W&L led 6-5 with around 25 minutes to play when the game was delayed, and Catholic's Laura Dunn scored shortly after the game resumed to tie the game 6-6, but W&L, the nation's No. 2 defense, held the Cardinals scoreless for the final 24:18 of the game. Ann Brandenburg had three goals for Catholic (14-5).
PHOTO BY PATRICK HINELY/W&L
Hayley Soutter had four goals and an assist as Washington and Lee waited out a lengthy weather delay to beat Catholic 9-6. The Generals, ranked No. 2 in the Nike/US Lacrosse Division III Top 20, host No. 1 William Smith on Sunday.
Defending national champion Middlebury outscored Brockport State 10-1 in the opening half, posting a 14-7 victory. Mary O’Connell scored the first three goals of the game and finished with four goals and an assist for the Panthers (16-4). Heather Conklin led Brockport with four goals. The Panthers advance to face a team it is very familiar with in The College of New Jersey. The two teams have met 10 times in the NCAA tournament over the years and Middlebury edged the Lions 6-4 in the regular season this year.
TCNJ continued its streak of reaching the NCAA quarterfinals every year since 1985 with a 14-0 shutout win over Mount Union. Kathleen Jaeger led the Lions (17-1) with four goals and Mirando Chrone made a pair of saves to earn the shutout. Mount Union finished the season 14-4 and got 11 saves from Mimi Curtis.
Gettysburg held the nation’s leading offense to just one goal in a 19-1 victory over Rhodes, handing the Lynx their first loss of the season. Katie Willis had four goals for the Bullets (18-3) and Katie Landry added two goals and four assists. Shannon Keller made four saves without surrendering a goal in almost 43 minutes of action. Rhodes closed the season at 19-1.
Gettysburg will host Salisbury in Sunday’s quarterfinal after the Sea Gulls downed Ithaca 15-8. Salisbury scored the first three goals of the game and controlled the action from start to finish. Lindsey Wagner had three goals for Salisbury (16-5). Ally Runyon had four goals for Ithaca to become the school’s all-time leading scorer with 252 points. The Bombers finished the season 14-5.
NCAA Division III Regionals
Ewing, N.J. – The College of New Jersey
TCNJ 14, Mount Union 0
Middlebury 14, Brockport State 7
Gettysburg, Pa. – Gettysburg College
Gettysburg 19, Rhodes 1
Salisbury 15, Ithaca 8
Hartford, Conn. – Trinity College
Trinity 13, Franklin & Marshall 12
York 8, Messiah 7 (OT)
Lexington, Va. – Washington and Lee University
William Smith 18, Colorado College 13
W&L 9, Catholic 6