The opening round of the NCAA Division III Women’s Lacrosse Championship saw some offensive fireworks and the game of the day took place in Lexington, Va., as Transylvania edged Washington & Jefferson 16-15 on a last-minute goal to win a back-and-forth affair.

Transylvania Rides Late Momentum

In a game that featured six lead changes, Transylvania took momentum down the stretch, scoring three of the last four goals. Charlotte Green scored the game-winner with 56 seconds left off an assist from Diana Bruder to give the Pioneers the victory.

Abbey Peterson led Transylvania with seven points on five goals and two assists and went a perfect 5 of 5 shooting on free position attempts. Bruder had five points (3g, 2a), Mandi Rider had a hat trick and Vianne Koshoffer dished out four assists.

Amanda Effland had five goals and two assists for W&J and Kaitlyn Brown made 15 saves.

Transylvania plays at host Washington and Lee in the Sunday’s second round.

York Wins Defensive Battle

In one of the rare low-scoring games of the day, York controlled St. John Fisher 9-6 to advance to the second round when it will host Wesleyan in a battle of two teams ranked in the Top of the Nike / USA Lacrosse rankings.

York never trailed, thanks in large part to a five-goal run that bridged halftime, but St. John Fisher cut the lead to two goals early in the fourth quarter before Gianna Huet gave the Spartans some breathing room with a goal with 8:30 remaining to close the scoring.

Chloe McDonald led York with three goals and Bella Garabo made eight saves to secure the victory.

Merchant Marine Rallies Past Springfield

Merchant Marine scored eight fourth-quarter goals to break a tie at 11 and defeat Springfield 19-13 in the first round.

Springfield scored the first three goals of the game and led 7-4 late in the second quarter, before Merchant Marine scored the last four goals of the half to take an 8-7 halftime lead.

Jessie Wohner led Merchant Marine with five goals and two assists, including three goals and an assist in the fourth quarter. Jaqui Sheedy and Jenna Turrentine each scored four times. Katie Martel and Jade O’Connor each scored four goals for Springfield.

Notable

• Haverford scored the first five goals of the game, but Cabrini rallied for an 18-15 victory. Olivia Little scored seven goals for the Cavaliers, including four during a seven-goal run that bridged halftime to turn the tide. Dana Carlson also scored six for Cabrini and Callie Crawford led Haverford with six.

• Capital remained unbeaten (20-0) with a dominating 21-4 win over Hamline in the school’s first NCAA tournament appearance. The Comets, who scored 11 first-quarter goals, had four players with at least seven points — Brooke Delara (5g, 3a), Luci Kanowsky (4g, 4a), Grace Osborn (6g, 1a) and Julia Foresi (2g, 5a).

• Stevenson picked up its first NCAA tournament victory ever, beating Meredith 17-7. Caroline Murphy had four goals and four assists, giving her a school record 94 points for the season.

• Grad transfer Olivia Carey scored seven goals as Claremont-Mudd-Scripps beat George Fox 22-6. Carey was a captain for Davidson last season. CMS advances to play next door neighbor Pomona-Pitzer on Sunday in the fourth meeting of the season between the two Southern California schools. Pomona-Pitzer won the first three games, including one in overtime.

• Cortland outscored Western Connecticut State 9-0 in the first quarter and cruised to an 18-8 victory. Hannah Keech had four goals, topping 100 point for her career, and Hannah Lorenzen had two goals and four assists.

• Playing in the NCAAs for the first time since 2016, St. Mary’s (Md.) beat Framingham State 19-9. Hailey Betch and Lucy Gussio each scored four goals for the Seahawks.

• Emily Bruner had a game-high nine points (3g, 6a) as Rhodes overcame a second-half weather delay and beat Aurora 24-6. Baylee Barker and Payton Bennett each scored five goals for the Lynx.

• Molly Brown had five goals and Madelynn Brown had four goals and three assists as SUNY Geneseo beat St. Joseph’s (Maine) 19-2.

• Roanoke scored the first 14 goals of the game and dominated Bryn Athyn 23-4. Lilly Blair and Emerson Foster each scored four goals for the Maroons.

• SUNY Canton scored first, but Stevens then scored the game’s next 26 goals in a 27-2 victory. Camryn Rogers scored six goals for Stevens.

Saturday Scores

Cabrini 18, Haverford 15
Capital 21, Hamline 4
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 22, George Fox 6
Merchant Marine 19, Springfield 13
Rhodes 24, Aurora 6
Roanoke 23, Bryn Athyn 4
St. Mary’s (Md.) 19, Framingham State 9
Stevens 27, SUNY Canton 2
Stevenson 17, Meredith 7
SUNY Cortland 18, Western Connecticut State 6
SUNY Geneseo 19, St. Joseph’s (Maine) 2
Transylvania 16, Washington & Jefferson 15
York 9, St. John Fisher 6

Catholic leads St. Mary’s (Ind.) 15-3 at halftime (weather delay)

Sunday Schedule

SUNY Geneseo at Middlebury, 1 pm
Merchant Marine vs. Colby, 1 pm (at Springfield)
Messiah at William Smith, 1 pm
Roanoke at Gettysburg, 1 pm
Transylvania at Washington and Lee, 1 pm
Wesleyan at York, 1 pm
St. Mary’s (Md.) at TCNJ, 1 pm
Roger Williams at SUNY Cortland, 1pm
Salisbury at Stevens, 1 pm
Rhodes at Kenyon, 1 pm
St. Lawrence at Tufts, 1 pm
Cabrini at Ithaca, 1 pm
Capital at Chicago, 2 pm
Catholic/St. Mary’s at Denison, 2 pm
Stevenson at Franklin & Marshall, 3pm
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at Pomona-Pitzer, 5 pm