ITHACA, N.Y. – A pair of nationally ranked 18-1 teams will square off in the third round of the NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse Championship as No. 8 Ithaca College plays No. 11 Pomona-Pitzer College at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday at Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vt.
The winner will move onto the national quarterfinals to play the winner of No. 1 Middlebury (19-0) and Colorado College (16-5) on Saturday at 1 p.m.
TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets will go on sale at Peter Kohn Field on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. and on Sunday at 12:00 p.m.
Tickets will be $6 for adults and $3 for seniors each day.
REGIONAL SCHEDULE
Saturday, May 18 – Third Round
No. 1 Middlebury vs. Colorado College – 11:30 a.m. |
Watch |
Live Stats
No. 8 Ithaca vs. No. 11 Pomona-Pitzer – 2:30 p.m. |
Watch |
Live Stats
Sunday, May 19 - Quarterfinals
Saturday's Winners – 1 p.m.
USA LACROSSE MAGAZINE ALL-AMERICANS
This regional features 11 All-American as announced by USA Lacrosse Magazine on May 10. Middlebury placed five student-athletes on the teams, Ithaca had four, while Pomona-Pitzer and Colorado College each had one.
ITHACA VS. THE OPPOSITION
The Bombers have never played Pomona-Pitzer but were a game away from seeing the Sagehens at this same stage in 2022.
IC and Middlebury have played twice – 2008 and 2011. Both meetings were in the NCAA Tournament and the Panthers won both games, 19-3 and 14-7.
Ithaca and Colorado College have played four times dating back to 2002 and have split the series. The last time IC met Colorado College was on March 11, 2020, which was a 21-9 win for the Bombers and the final game of the season before the pandemic.
SCOUTING THE PANTHERS
Middlebury is the two-time defending national champions and have played in four of the last five title games. The Panthers elected not to play the 2021 season and have only lost two games since 2019.
This season, the Panthers win by an average of 10 goals per game and their opposition has only reached double-digit goals four times. Middlebury reached the third round by defeating St. John Fisher, 18-5, last Sunday.
Hope Shue and Susan Rowley pace the offense with a combined 170 points. Shue has 68 goals with 24 assists, to go along with 54 draws, 18 ground balls and 11 caused turnovers, while Rowley has 62 goals and 16 assists with 23 ground balls. Caroline Adams leads Middlebury with 112 draws and has added 45 points on 27 goals and 18 assists. Maggie Coughlin also has 45 points on the season.
Kylie Wilson and Chloe Newman are two of the top defensive players for Middlebury. Wilson has 36 ground balls and 27 caused turnovers, while Newman has 27 ground balls and 18 caused turnovers.
The Panthers play two goalies in Gina Driscoll and Elizabeth Savage. Driscoll is 13-0 with a .363 save percentage and 6.59 GAA, while Savage is 6-0 with a 5.20 GAA and .523 save percentage.
SCOUTING THE BOMBERS
IC will be making its third appearance over the past four seasons into the third round of the tournament. The Bombers bring the nation's second-longest winning streak, only behind Middlebury, of 15 games into Saturday's contest. Ithaca found a spot in regionals after a convincing, 18-6, win over No. 23 Shenandoah last weekend.
Caroline Wise leads Ithaca with 174 draw controls, 36 ground balls and 35 assists. Wise also ranks second with 21 caused turnovers and is fourth with 32 goals. Nationally, she is sixth in draw wins per game at 10.24 and she is second on the active list across all divisions with 573 career draw wins.
Maizy Veitch became Ithaca's all-time leading scorer in points as she finished the game against Shenandoah with six goals and one assist to give her 276 career points. This season, Veitch leads the team with 57 goals and 91 points, while her 34 assists are second in the program. She has also picked up 27 ground balls.
Sydney Phillips is second on the team with 55 goals and is third in points with 63. She has seven game-winning goals to her credit this season, to go along with 15 ground balls and 13 caused turnovers.
IC will also look to
Lily Cody,
Chloe Nordyke and
Lexi Kellish to provide additional offensive support this weekend.
Held recently surpassed 500 career saves and just set Ithaca's single season record for wins in a season with 18. She has played nearly 1100 minutes in cage this season and owns a .514 save percentage with 170 saves, an 8.80 GAA and 32 ground balls. Held currently ranks seventh in Division III in save percentage and is 21st in overall saves.
The defensive unit of
Maggie Mandel,
Kaitlyn Russell,
Olivia Puppo and
Liney Dutchyshyn have had an enormous impact on opponents' lack of production this season.
SCOUTING THE SAGEHENS
Pomona-Pitzer has breezed through its competition this season, with one exception – a 13-6 loss to Williams on March 27. The Sagehens own the largest margin of victory in the country at 12.7 goals per game and have the second-best defense at just 5.1 goals allowed per contest. They are also fifth nationally in caused turnovers per game and seventh in ground balls per game.
Pomona defeated George Fox, 19-7, in the second round.
The Sagehens have seven goals scores over 25 on the season, led by Fiona Lewis with 55. Sydney Landauer is second with 36 but leads the team with 78 points. River Buechner ranks third with 34 goals, while Shoshi Henderson is second on the team with 73 points on 47 assists and 28 goals.
Pomona-Pitzer is also balanced in the draw circle with four players winning more than 41. Hannah Gough leads the way with 69, while Buechner has 59, Taylor Glanville has won 44 and Grace Tighe has 41. The Sagehens are equally tough on defense with 13 players scooping up more than 20 ground balls on the year.
In goal, Ruby Loesch is the nation's leader in GAA at 5.10. Loesch has played every minute in cage and has a .492 save percentage.
SCOUTING THE TIGERS
Colorado College has played two games so far in the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers defeated Aurora, 18-2, in the first round and pulled off one of the second round upsets with a 20-14 win over No. 25 Chicago. Colorado is the third-highest scoring team in the country at 17.9 goals per game and is 10th in draw controls per game at 17.4.
In those wins over Aurora and Chicago, Healy Bledsoe had two points, seven ground balls, four caused turnovers and a draw control and was named IWLCA Defensive Player of the Week. Bledsoe leads the team with 25 caused turnovers and is second on the team with 46 ground balls.
The Tigers also possess one of the nation's leading scorers in Kendall Havill, who has 93 goals and 22 assists for 115 points. Charlotte Iler and Tobin Lonergan each have 77 points on the season.
Devon Ortman does it all for the Tigers as she has 113 draws, 51 ground balls, 30 goals, 21 assists and 23 caused turnovers.
Evelyn Baher-Murphy is another solid defender for Colorado College with 44 ground balls and 24 caused turnovers. Cassidy Schnaufer is 16-5 in cage and has a 9.78 GAA with a .465 save percentage.
