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.