SALEM, Va. — Middlebury midfielder Hollis Perticone and her Panthers teammates had been focused all week prior to Saturday’s NCAA Division III women’s lacrosse national semifinal on one subject — The College of New Jersey.

Sure, there was a spot in the final available if they could win, but last week was no time to think about that.

In fact, Middlebury didn’t even want to consider who might be its opponent if it managed to win.

Panthers coach Kate Livesay asked her team if they wanted to catch a few minutes of the first semifinal between Gettysburg and Salisbury. They declined.

“Our feeling was that we needed to focus on this game — which I think is the mentality you have to have,” Perticone said.

Middlebury topped TCNJ 13-9 on Saturday, and now the 2016 NCAA champion will play 2017 champion Gettysburg — a 12-7 winner over Salisbury — in Sunday’s 2 p.m. final at Kerr Stadium on the campus of Roanoke College.

With both teams winning national titles within the past two years, Gettysburg and Middlebury are familiar with each other, but most of the knowledge is from afar.

The two teams have played just twice since 2014 — Gettysburg won 9-7 in a round of 16 contest that year, while Middlebury beat the Bullets 13-9 in a 2016 region final on its way to the national championship that year.

“It’s a little hard to know what this matchup will be because we haven’t played them and we don’t know where the ball will be going,” Middlebury coach Kate Livesay said.

Here are three keys to Sunday’s final:

1. Starting strong

Both the Bullets and Panthers jumped out to early leads in their semifinal games — Gettysburg led Salisbury 4-0, while Middlebury got out to a 3-0 lead on TCNJ.

But title games tend to have a little different feel to them early, said Livesay.

“In my experience of the finals game, how you start is really important,” she said. “There are a lot of nerves going into [Sunday], so when you get that first goal, it really puts you at ease.

“For our team, if we’re doing what we’re supposed to be doing, that’s what calms us.”

2. Controlling the draw

This is where Gettysburg overwhelmed Salisbury in Saturday’s semifinal, winning it 14 out of 20 times.

And no one is better about getting to those loose balls than midfielder Steph Colson, who claimed nine of those 14 draws for the Bullets.

“I try not to get too caught on what’s happening with the girl next to me, and it’s important to just watch the ref, and when she puts her hand down, you need to be the first to get off the line,” said Colson, who broke the Centennial Conference record for draw controls in a season during Saturday’s game. “Courtney [Patterson] does a great job of putting the ball where it needs to go [on the draw], and Kerry’s also good in the circle.

“We just have a really great draw squad. We pride ourselves in that, and it’s seemed to work out so far.”

Middlebury had a 13-8 advantage in its semifinal, and the Panthers rely on Perticone, who got 11 of those.

Although Livesay said that if Perticone is taken out of the game, the Panthers have other options.

“I think our draw team is super adaptable,” she said. “We do have a go-to [strategy] for what we’re looking for. But if it’s not working, they really know what each player’s strengths are, and they are close enough to be able to say ‘I think you’re the one to take the draw here.’“

3. Defending well

Since 2010, defense has been the key to winning the Division III title game. Only once (Trinity beat Salisbury 8-7 in 2012) has the losing team scored more than six goals, so a handful of solid defensive stands early in the game could indicate who might have the advantage as the minutes tick off and fatigue starts to take a toll on some players.

“We really are focused a lot this week in our communication,” Middlebury goalie Kate Furber said. “We’re keeping up the talk and the energy, and making that the No. 1 thing for us.

“When you have some great interceptions by our backer Evie Keating and other defenders, it really kind of sparks the defensive sets, as well as the midfielders and attackers.

Furber made six saves in Middlebury’s semifinal win. Gettysburg goalie Bailey Pilder made 11.