Gettysburg’s run atop the NCAA Division III women’s lacrosse landscape came to an end as Wesleyan upset the Bullets 10-7 in a game twice delayed by lightning.
Wesleyan is headed the NCAA semifinals for the first time in program history and will be joined by NESCAC rivals Middlebury and Tufts along with Salisbury. It’s the first trip to the semifinals for both Tufts and Wesleyan while Middlebury is a six-time champion (1997, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2016) and Salisbury is a three-time champion (2010, 2013, 2014).
Wesleyan 10, Gettysburg 7
Wesleyan knocked off two-time defending champion Gettysburg, 10-7 to advance to the NCAA semifinals for the first time in program history.
Abby Manning scored four goals for the Cardinals, including back-to-back goals that started a four-goal run at the end of the first half to give Wesleyan a 6-3 lead. Manning’s fourth goal came in the second half after Gettysburg had scored two straight to pull within one goal.
Kerry McKeever scored all three of her goals in the second half for Gettysburg, including a goal with 20:35 to play that cut Wesleyan’s lead to 7-6.
Gettysburg then went more than 18 minutes without scoring and Johanna Copeland, Caitlin Wood and Sydney Prokupek scored for the Cardinals to put the game out of reach.
Manning had a game-high seven points for Wesleyan, adding three assists to go along with her four goals. Allegra Grant made 10 saves to earn the victory.
McKeever’s three goals led Gettysburg and Liza Barr added two goals and an assist.
Salisbury 8, Amherst 7
Emma Skoglund’s goal with just four seconds left sent Salisbury to the NCAA Division III women’s lacrosse semifinals with an 8-7 victory over Amherst.
Amherst jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the game and Salisbury didn’t take its first lead until Taylor Poore’s goal with just 4:05 left in the second half gave the Seagulls a 7-6 lead.
Amherst tied it back up just 47 seconds later as Maia Noyes scored off a past from Hannah Fox. Each team traded turnovers and yellow cards after Noyes goal and Skogland then scored the winning goal unassisted.
Poore had three goals, an assist and five caused turnovers for Salisbury. Claire Dunbar, Noyes and Isabelle Sennett each scored twice for Amherst.
Tufts 11, York 6
Audrey Evers made 11 saves and the Tufts defense held York scoreless for a stretch of more than 30 minutes in an 11-6 victory.
York pulled to within 5-4 on Regan Cook’s goal with 11:38 remaining in the first half. The Spartans then went scoreless for the next 30:47 until Claudia DiVenti scored with 10:51 left in the second half.
In the meantime, Tufts scored six straight goals to take control of the contest.
Colette Smith led the Jumbos with three goals and Emily Games and Annie Sullivan each scored twice.
DiVenti and Chloe McDonald each scored twice for York.
Middlebury 16, Franklin & Marshall 4
Middlebury remained white-hot with a 16-4 victory over Franklin & Marshall to extend the nation’s longest winning streak to 20 games.
Middlebury scored the first five goals of the game and didn’t surrender a shot until more than 11 minutes into the contest. After F&M had scored back-to-back goals to make it 5-2, Middlebury scored five in a row to close the first half.
Jane Earley lead the Panther offense with four goals and two assists and Emily Barnard added three goals and an assist. Marissa McGarrey scored twice for F&M, which committed 25 turnovers.