Chaos Sets Up Division III Men’s Quarterfinals

Sunday was a bad day to be a conference champion in Division III men’s lacrosse.

Champions from the Centennial, Liberty League and ODAC went down — one day after NESCAC champion Wesleyan also lost — setting the stage for next Saturday’s NCAA quarterfinals. Being a conference champ doesn’t net you anything come NCAA tournament time, of course, but it was certainly a little bit of bedlam in the Division III ranks.

Let’s wrap it up.

Middlebury 13, Dickinson 9

Yeah, the NESCAC is pretty good. A day after the NESCAC’s best team lost, another NESCAC outfit beat the Centennial champion. Middlebury scored five of the final six goals, and Will Zink had four goals and two assists in a 13-9 win over Dickinson.

Middlebury never trailed after going down 5-4, but the teams went back and forth with ties at 5-, 6- and 8-all. It was that final burst by the Panthers that did the job.

Bowdoin 12, RPI 5

Liberty League champion RPI, one of the top stories of the 2024 season, couldn’t get past yet another NESCAC contender. Bowdoin scored six of the first eight goals and didn’t let the Engineers get anything going on offense in a smothering 12-5 win.

Why couldn’t they get anything going on offense? Polar Bears goalie Robert Hobbs saw a lot of rubber but made 21 saves, erasing any chance RPI had of staying in it.

Washington and Lee 16, Lynchburg 13

The Generals scored the final three goals — two by James Haley and a third by Leif Smith — to dispatch ODAC champion Lynchburg. In a seesaw contest, Lynchburg held late leads of 11-10 and 12-11 but couldn’t finish the job against W&L.

St. John Fisher 11, St. Lawrence 10

St. John Fisher narrowly held on after a four-goal second-quarter run put the Cardinals ahead 8-3, as St. Lawrence continually chipped away as the game progressed. St. Lawrence twice cut the deficit to one goal at 9-8 and 10-9 before Ben Hutchinson scored with 24 seconds left to make it 11-10.

St. Lawrence won the ensuing possession on a ground ball pickup by Ben Hutchinson, who also took the game’s final shot  with four seconds left — but it was saved by St. John Fisher’s Ben Hammond.

St. John Fisher continues its Cinderella run into the quarters after beating Wesleyan on Saturday and one of the nation’s top teams during the regular season on Sunday.

Tufts 27, Stevenson 7

Tufts has now scored 27 goals in both of its NCAA tournament games, outscoring opponents 54-16 in May. Jack Regnery led the Jumbos with six goals and three assists, while Max Ettinghausen and Cam Delcristo netted hat tricks.

Christopher Newport 12, Stevens 5

Christopher Newport scored eight straight goals after the score was tied at 4, comfortably getting past Stevens in the Round of 16. Alex Brendes and Andrew Cook each had three goals and two assists, Warner Cabaniss won 10 of 16 faceoffs and Zac Hanway made nine saves.

Salisbury 18, Swarthmore 7

Salisbury improved to 21-0, continuing its perfect season behind five goals from Brice Bromwell and hat tricks from Jude Brown, Jack Dowd and Chris Wong. Bryce Stevenson caused five turnovers, while John DeFazio caused three turnovers and picked up eight ground balls.

NCAA DIVISION III MEN’S
QUARTERFINALS SCHEDULE

All games Saturday, May 18. All times Eastern.

RIT vs. Christopher Newport, noon
Bowdoin vs. Middlebury, 3 p.m.
Salisbury vs. Washington and Lee, 4:30 p.m.
Tufts vs. St. John Fisher, 7:30 p.m.