Middlebury Overcomes Tufts Blitz, Wins 4th Straight D-III Title

SALEM, Va. — For Hope Shue and her Middlebury College lacrosse colleagues, this was even better than a nationally televised  ESPN Top 10 Play. Way better.

The Panthers and their celestial senior attacker stood tall Sunday afternoon as gritty Tufts hurled at them everything but the bus from Medford, Ma., on which the Jumbos rode to Roanoke College’s Kerr Stadium.

Tufts was still attacking in the last seconds before the clock ran out, and the ecstatic Panthers stampeded the field to collect their fourth NCAA Division III trophy in a row. The scoreboard read 10-9 as the clock ticked to 0:00.

Also to be counted and celebrated is Middlebury’s 11th national crown in 14 championship appearances.

Shue and her fellow seniors took their bows for a 20-0 record in four seasons of NCAA tournament play. Tufts (21-2) matched Middlebury in playing as hard as the game can possibly be contested but fell agonizingly short of its first national championship in three attempts. Two of those setbacks came to Middlebury.

Shue set a record with her 80th goal in NCAA championship competition and scored four Sunday. She closed out the Panthers’ scoring with her last two goals, one of them left-handed. Caroline Conaghan fought her way to the last Jumbos score with 11 seconds left to slice the Panthers lead to one. The ensuing draw was a desperate scramble that ate up the rest of the clock without an attack mounted.

“This is the sweetest way to end a career,” Shue said. “Amazing one-goal games – it’s the most fun when it’s tight.”

To which Middlebury coach Kate Livesay responded to a huge round of laughter from her players: “I disagree.”

Tufts took the shock-and-awe approach to the first 8-plus minutes. Allie Zorn, Margie Carden, Ella Lesperance and Carolin Conaghan to the four-goal onslaught. Lesperance scored in a player-up situation.

With that Middlebury was in an unexpectedly unaccustomed back-on-its heels station, not to mention a four-goal deficit.

“Something all season we talked about was starting fast and playing with a lot of confidence,” Carden said. “In those first 10 minutes I think we play better when we don’t think a lot and just play.”

After that, the Panthers attack picked up, and the defense, backed by a terrific performance (10 saves) by sophomore goalkeeper Elizabeth Savage, locked down. Defensive leaders Kylie Wilson, Grace Mumford, and Madison Paylor picked up strength the longer the game went.

“Our defense has been amazing all year,” Shue said.

It had to be against Tufts. Middlebury didn’t have its first lead until Kelcey Dion, who had come off the bench, scored on a free position blast with 10:21 left in the game. Dion had a hat trick to go with Shue’s four. Maggie Coughlin chipped in a pair of scores. Skylar Lach tied the score at 6 late in the second. All the Panther goals were unassisted.

In all, there were four ties and one lead change.

Tufts came in with a high-powered offense that scored 384 goals in 23 games, but Middlebury was well-prepared. The Jumbos were limited to two goals in the second half both in the fourth quarter.

“A lot of could’a-would’a-should’as, to be perfectly honest with you,” 12th-year Jumbos coach Courtney Shute said.

Tufts had its share of standout play. Genna Gibbons was dominant on the draw and outfought a couple of different opponents to claim a substantial 14-8 advantage in the circle, a huge factor. Pascale de Buren was sensational in goal with 12 saves while playing all 60 minutes.

The best hour of competition belonged collectively to Middlebury. In the final estimation, the champs just would not be denied. Shue, the 4.0 student and the top scholar on her team, showed them how it’s supposed to be done the last four years.

“This is greatness is what you’re seeing,” Monika Moore, the analyst on the NCAA stream of the contest, said of Shue. “Pure excellence in everything she does.”

Offense, defense, being a nuisance jostling sticks and causing turnovers — the only chore she missed was goalkeeper. Those little things in the open field helped her team to 13-6 advantage in
turnovers. In this kind of game every single one of them was gigantic.

All of which is not to say that Shue’s SportsCenter appearance after her team’s semifinal victory over Colby didn’t have its own particular emotion. The occasion — No. 6 on the ESPN list — was marked by a behind-the-back shot that ripped the net.

“Yes it is a big deal,” said Shue answering a question with a huge smile, “that BTB — I’d never thrown one in my life. I said before the game I was going to do it lefty. I did it. Good moment.”

Not the only one over the weekend for Shue and her squad. Not even close.