The New England Small College Athletic Conference advanced four teams to the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Division III Women’s Lacrosse Championship, but at least one big obstacle remains in the way of the traditional powerhouse league from claiming a championship — two-time defending champion Gettysburg.

The Bullets improved to a 19-1 with a dominating 14-3 victory over Denison on Saturday, setting up a quarterfinal showdown with one of the NESCAC’s remaining four squads, Wesleyan.

Wesleyan’s league counterparts Amherst, Middlebury and Tufts all posted wins on Saturday to advance to the quarterfinals. At least one NESCAC team has played in the national championship game every year this decade except 2017.

Wesleyan reached the quarterfinals for the first time in school history with a 13-7 victory over Washington and Lee. Wesleyan scored the first three goals, never trailed and closed out the game on a 5-0 run over the last 10 minutes after W&L had pulled to within 8-7 on Haley Tucker’s goal with 10:57 left in the game.  Kat Cucullo had three goals for Wesleyan, Abby Manning had two goals and two assists and Allegra Grant made 11 saves.

W&L was ranked No. 2 in the most recent IWLCA poll and now Wesleyan has to face the No. 1 team in host Gettysburg on Sunday. Liza Barr had three goals and four assists in the Bullets win over Denison with four of her points coming in Gettysburg’s game-opening 7-0 run. Bailey Pilder made 11 saves in the win.

Amherst had trouble beating Catholic goalie Nanci Hernandez (15 saves), but played strong defense of its own in a low-scoring 9-6 victory over the Cardinals in the Salisbury Regional. Amherst never trailed in the contest, Talia Land made nine saves and the defense helped force Catholic into 25 turnovers. Lindsey Call, Maia Noyes, Leah Ritterband and Rebecca Wistreich each scored twice for Amherst.

Host Salisbury scored 13 goals in the first half of an 18-8 win over Colorado College. Gabby Mongno paced the Seagulls with four goals and Gianna Demato had a team-high five points on two goals and three assists.

Middlebury gave up a season-high 18 goals in a March win over Bowdoin, but the Panthers defense was much improved on Saturday. Middlebury, last year’s national runner-up, knocked off its conference rival 18-9 as Jane Earley scored four times. Emily Barnard added two goals and three assists and Middlebury stretched its nation-leading winning streak to 19 games.

Middlebury will host Franklin & Marshall on Sunday in the quarterfinals. F&M used a 10-goal run that bridged halftime to beat Illinois Wesleyan 19-7. Marissa McGarrey had a team-high five points (3g, 2a) for the Diplomats and Megan Jackson, Grace Norley and Maddie Hughes all had hat tricks as well.

Emily Games had five goals and two assists to lead host Tufts past longtime Division III power TCNJ 17-13. The Jumbos will host York on Sunday as they attempt to reach the semifinals for the first time in school history. Leading 8-6, Tufts went on a four-goal run over the final 10 minutes of the first half to take control of the game.

York advanced to the quarterfinals with a 14-11 win over St. John Fisher. Meghan Fox scored all five of her goals in the first half to help the Spartans take a 9-5 halftime lead that held up. Regan Cook added three goals and Abby Smith made 11 saves.

NCAA Third Round Results

Amherst 9, Catholic 6
Franklin & Marshall 19, Illinois Wesleyan 7
Gettysburg 14, Denison 3
Middlebury 18, Bowdoin 9
Salisbury 18, Colorado College 8
Tufts 17, TCNJ 13
York 14, St. John Fisher 11
Wesleyan 13, Washington and Lee 7

Quarterfinals

May 19

Amherst at Salisbury, 1 p.m.
Franklin & Marshall at Middlebury, 1 p.m.
Wesleyan at Gettysburg, 2:30 p.m.
York at Tufts, 4 p.m.