Recap: 2 Undefeateds Remain After D-III Women's Conference Tournaments

In what was an action-packed weekend, conference champions were crowned and punched their tickets to the NCAA tournament.

Here are the biggest game, stories, and numbers from a busy weekend.

Best Game

Wesleyan vs. Tufts, NESCAC semifinals

The NESCAC rivals are familiar foes, squaring off in the NESCAC championships every year since 2022. This year, the Jumbos beat the Cardinals in overtime in the regular season; Wesleyan returned the favor in the conference semifinals, beating Tufts 10-9 in overtime.

What made this matchup an instant classic wasn’t just the narrow scoreline — it was how the game ended. Tufts was down three goals in the third quarter but came all the way back and took the lead with 58 seconds remaining off a goal from Allie Zorn.

Wesleyan won the ensuing draw, but a shot from Becca Dibble went out of bounds, and Tufts earned possession with 5.9 seconds remaining. Wesleyan’s Bridget Horst doubled the ball with Lindsey Diomede, who caused a turnover. Dibble picked up the ground ball and passed it to Addie Cummings, who scored on a back-handed shot as time expired.

Diomede won the ensuing draw. On the ensuing possession, Horst passed to Caroline Cervini, who deflected the ball into the net for the game-winning goal, sending Wesleyan to the tournament championship for the second consecutive year.

Biggest Surprise

Franklin & Marshall vs. Gettysburg, Centennial semifinals

The Diplomats struggled this year, losing eight of their first 11 games, but they ended the regular season with four consecutive victories — including a key one-goal win over Muhlenberg in the regular season finale — to earn the second-seed in the Centennial.

Franklin & Marshall’s Lauren Pittman scored five goals and added an assist, while goalie Sara DiGiovanni made seven saves as the Diplomats beat the Bullets 14-12 and advanced to the championship game against Haverford, which they also won, 7-5, for their fourth consecutive tournament championship.

Despite the early struggles, it wasn’t too surprising to see Franklin & Marshall defeat Gettysburg. The Diplomats have beaten the Bullets five consecutive times and four years in a row at the conference tournament. What was most surprising was that this is the first year Gettysburg didn’t play for the conference championship since 2002.

ODAC Queens

With an 8-6 victory over Randolph-Macon, the Washington and Lee women’s lacrosse team won its 16th consecutive Old Dominion Athletic Conference championship.

All season, the Generals have been paced on offense by junior Hannah Van Son and sophomore Lara Baki, and the two came up huge for the team once again.

Despite taking an early 3-0 lead, Randolph-Macon closed the gap and tied the game going into halftime. The team’s swapped goals for most of the second half. It wasn’t until Baki scored her second goal of the game with nearly four and a half minutes remaining in regulation that Washington and Lee took the lead for good. Van Son tacked on another goal, her third of the game, with 1:42 left in regulation to put the game away.

Lions Continue Dominance Over Profs

In the regular season finale, TCNJ beat rival Rowan 14-7. One week later, in the NJAC championship, the Lions repeated the feat, earning a 10-7 victory. The win secured the program’s 15th consecutive NJAC championship.

Marissa Luca and CJ Kole tied for the team lead in points with three goals and two assists apiece. Lucca continues to climb the program record books. She now sits eighth all-time in goals (199), and she is tied for second in single-season points (123).

TCNJ is now 61-1 all-time against Rowan and has won 25 consecutive matchups, including five straight NJAC title games, against the in-state foe.

Best Individual PerformanceS

Belle Dintino, Franklin & Marshall

The senior defender won the Centennial Tournament MVP after she won 11 draw controls, picked up 10 ground balls, and caused nine turnovers in the team’s two playoffs games. She had a remarkable six caused turnovers against Gettysburg in the semifinals.

Reese Walker, Meredith

Walker produced four goals and eight assists in each of the Avenging Angels’ two USA South Conference Tournament games. In the semifinals against Southern Virginia University, Walker broke the NCAA record for career assists, previously set at 277 by Kelsey Winters of Christopher Newport in 2024. Walker was named the MVP of the USA South tournament.

By the Numbers

2

Only two undefeated teams remain in NCAA Division III women’s lacrosse: Middlebury and Salisbury. The Panthers beat Wesleyan 7-5 in the finals of the NESCAC championship, while Salisbury beat Christopher Newport 11-9 to win the Coast-To-Coast conference championship.

77

Jillian Lopez scored five goals in the Landmark title win over Catholic, giving her 77 on the season, which set a single-season program record. She was named the Landmark championship MVP for the second season in a row.

47

Husson senior Laela Martinez caused three turnovers in the team’s 12-9 victory over Maine Maritime, earning the Eagles the North Atlantic Conference Championship for the second consecutive season. Martinez now has 47 caused turnovers, a single-season program record.

33

William Smith junior Kira Fulton extended her point streak to 33 consecutive games. In the Liberty League semifinal win over Rochester, she recorded a game-high five points, including career point No. 100. In the championship game against Union, she had a game-high six points and earned the conference tournament MVP award.