Top Games, Biggest Upsets of D-III Men's Conference Championship Weekend

May 5, 2025

Dan Arestia and Kyle Devitte

Ohio Northern Athletics

The Division III men's lacrosse bracket is set.

But how did we get here? Dan Arestia and Kyle Devitte break down everything that happened in D-III Land over the weekend right here.

TOP GAMES

Washington and Lee def. Lynchburg 13-12 (OT)

The Generals might not have been able to put an end to the debate of whether or not 100 men could best a single gorilla, but they did hoist the ODAC title in overtime thanks to a goal from Eliot Cohen. While the overtime period looked a long way off thanks to a six-goal outburst of the first quarter, Lynchburg steadily chipped away at the W&L defense throughout the rest of regulation. Seven different Hornets got on the scoresheet, but the most timely score was from Riley Hastings, who tied things at 12 with just under three minutes remaining in the fourth.

Despite a mad dash from both teams to score the winner — including two shots from Lynchburg and one from W&L — the game went to overtime. The Generals dominated for the entirety of the extra frame, launching five straight shots at the Lynchburg net before Cohen found the back of the net with a backhanded shot in transition.

Babson def. Springfield 12-10

Springfield used a balanced second-quarter attack to build a 5-3 lead over the reigning NEWMAC champions. Jake Degnan and Matt Webb each scored twice in the first 30 minutes, but they were also the end product of an organized Springfield attack. This might be Keith Bugbee’s final season in charge of the Pride, but he’s not going down without a fight. Babson, possibly still reeling from its regular-season defeat at the hands of Coast Guard, was taken to the limit by MIT in the semis and looked a bit worse for wear in the champ game.

Springfield extended its lead in the third stanza with an extra-man goal from Bryan Stensrud, but Babson didn't go away quietly. The Beavers outscored the Pride 3-2 in the third quarter, putting the score at 7-6 in favor of Springfield heading into the final frame.

But momentum is a funny thing — it never stays on one side forever. Babson swung the momentum back heavily in its favor with some excellent make-it, take-it faceoff play and scored six goals in the first six minutes of the fourth. The Pride, true to their namesake, fought back with a three-goal run of their own — but it was too late.

Babson prevailed 12-10 and earned every inch of the NEWMAC AQ. The Beavers are dancing.

Tufts def. Wesleyan 22-10

The regular-season contest was an instant classic. Wesleyan’s Jack Raba had a goal waved off that would have given Wesleyan the lead with under 10 seconds left. Instead, Tufts won in OT. The rematch, this time for the NESCAC crown, was not quite as close.

Tufts came out firing, taking 27 shots in the first quarter alone, but only had a 5-3 lead at the end of the quarter. In the previous meeting, Ben Burns and Will Miller did a lot of the damage for Wesleyan. The Tufts defense clearly keyed on those two players. Burns, an elite shooter, rarely could catch a ball without a stick already in his gloves.

The barrage of shots continued in the second quarter, and eventually, the dam broke. Tufts attacked Wesleyan short sticks, attacked in transition and even got highlight reel backhanded goals after faceoff loose balls. When the Jumbos have it all working, they’re impossible to stop, and in this one, they had it all working. It all led to a 9-0 run that saw Tufts take a 14-3 lead into the half.

The onslaught continued in the second half. The Jumbos added seven more goals in the third quarter, taking a football-like 21-7 lead into the fourth quarter. The final frame ultimately was mop-up time, as Tufts rolled to the NESCAC title with a 22-10 win. The Jumbos enter the NCAA tournament undefeated, having won their two NESCAC tournament games by a combined score of 45-20.

RIT def. St. Lawrence 11-10

The combination of Michael Marinello and a driving rainstorm slowed RIT down for a while but ultimately couldn’t stop them forever. The Tigers are inevitable.

Although the Saints did not make it easy, especially in the fourth quarter, when they mounted a furious comeback spearheaded by Bobby Wells, who had two of his three goals in the final stanza. St Lawrence kept both Clifford Gaston and Nate Senez goalless and without a point until late in the game. But as they did in the semifinals, RIT found ways to get impact plays from all over the roster.

Ultimately, Ryan Bullock’s insurance goal with 3:47 left was the difference, as it provided the two-goal cushion RIT needed. St. Lawrence always looked like it was going to get a goal back — and it did from Wells — but the Tigers ran the clock down too far for St. Lawrence to get anything but a final shot off with 2 seconds left from Henry Crean. RIT claimed yet another Liberty League title, this time in a torrential downpour of water, not emotion.

Salisbury def. Christopher Newport 13-12 (OT)

No better way for this conference to be decided. Regulation wasn’t enough. It was Michael Leahy who hit the winner for Salisbury on an assist from Brice Bromwell, taking the Coastal Conference crown.

Salisbury was off to the races early, scoring the game’s first three goals and leading 5-1 after the first. CNU came alive in the second quarter and had the better run of play through the remainder of regulation. Despite the deep hole against one of the best teams in the country, CNU came all the way back to tie it at 8 in the third. There were also ties at 9, 11 and 12 to end regulation.

CNU had an opportunity to win it before OT. Jackson Shaw beat his man to get to the middle of the field for a step down, but his shot just missed the low corner and went wide. The Captains backed up the shot and called a timeout with 30 seconds to go, looking to set up the winner. Out of the timeout, CNU tried to create with their attack from behind the goal but couldn’t get a shot off.

Off the clock violation, John DeFazio picked up the ball with about 10 seconds left. As he wound up for a potential winning shot with five seconds left, Salisbury took a timeout. The Gulls tried to dodge with Bromwell to beat the regulation clock, but a CNU double denied him the chance to shoot, and extra time was needed.

In OT, DeFazio came in from the wing in a flash, scooping up the ground ball on the faceoff to get possession for the Gulls. No timeout was called; Salisbury trapped some of the CNU personnel on the field. Bromwell got by his man from the low lefty wing, and when the slide came, he found Leahy inside on the doorstep for the game winner. Leahy’s shot was certainly not the fastest of the day, but the off-speed finish got by Bellinger. It’s CNU’s second OT loss of the season, the other coming against Tufts. Despite the heartbreak, the Captains are poised to be a very dangerous team in the NCAA tournament as an at-large bid.

Dickinson def. Gettysburg 13-11

A cagey affair between two very prepared teams exploded into a back-and-forth action movie of a lacrosse game. The first quarter alone was packed with goals, big hits and spectacular momentum swings. Dickinson shot out to a 5-3 lead, but Gettysburg rode a four-goal run led by Jackson Alpaugh that stretched from the end of the first half and into the third quarter to wrestle back control of the game.

The third quarter is where things started to settle down a bit, though, as both teams slowed their attacks and worked for matchups to exploit in settled sets. Dickinson struck back with a three-goal run of its own to take a 10-9 lead into the final quarter. Even though the Red Devils carried the slim advantage into the final 15 minutes, it really was anyone's game to claim.

Ramsey Huggins broke the tension with a catch and go on a cut from X that put Dickinson up 11-9 four minutes into the final quarter. The Red Devils continued to chew away at the clock and extended their next possession with a sideline run out, but the Bullets got a chance to score early in the shot clock. Patrick Maroney’s shot was saved with half of the quarter expired.

Gettysburg tried to keep working on the shorties up top, but Evan Karetsos caused a turnover on the high wing to push the ball up to Huggins, who hammered home a low-to-low rip to complete his hat trick and put Dickinson up 12-9 with 6:34 remaining. A tripping call against the Dickinson D gave Gettysburg a chance to get back into the game with a quick goal, but the Bullets couldn’t get a shot off in the man-up.

Still, Gettysburg’s Jack Dunleavy scored right after with 3:29 left to make it 12-10. However, Luke Wayland’s goal wth 2:42 in the game effectively iced it for the Red Devils. Ethan Kessler got a goal back for the Bullets to make it 13-11, but there just was not enough time for Gettysburg to get back into the contest. Dickinson won their fourth consecutive Centennial Conference championship — this time on enemy soil.

TOP UPSETS

Ohio Northern def. Baldwin Wallace 10-9

Down 5-3 at halftime, Ohio Northern rallied to a 10-9 win for the OAC crown, upsetting top seed Baldwin Wallace. ONU lost the regular-season meeting by just one goal, and the second chapter was just as competitive. A second-half hat trick by Colin Willits and five second-half points from Caleb Bennett pushed the team to victory. Ohio Northern was picked to finish third in the conference in the preseason. On its way to the crown, Nat St. Laurent's group beat the two teams picked to finish atop the table.

Albion def. Trine 11-5

Albion punched its ticket with a six-goal second half to pull away from Trine and win 11-5, taking the MIAA crown. Cal Stearns had four goals and Brendan Mercier had five points to lead all scorers. It’s the sixth MIAA title in program history for the Britons.

Ohio Wesleyan def. Denison 13-10

Denison wrestled control of this game early thanks to a four-goal run in the second quarter spurred by four different goal scorers. The Big Red went up 8-3 halfway through the second stanza, but Ohio Wesleyan kept their heads. The Bishops did score three of the final four goals of the first half but were still down 9-6 heading into halftime.

And then the second half came.

OWU blasted six goals past the Denison defense, with Will Siegenthaler leading the way with the first two goals of the run. Once the action calmed, Denison got a goal back as Tommy Quinson completed his hat trick in the fourth quarter to cut OWU’s lead to two. The battling Bishops added an insurance tally from Henry Ross, his third goal and fifth point of the afternoon, to put the game safely out of reach at 13-10 with just over three minutes left.

Pop the white smoke — the Bishops have won the NCAC Conclave and are back in the NCAA tournament.