Still the 1: Middlebury Wins Fifth Straight Championship

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — It wasn’t easy, but you can add another crown to the collection.

Middlebury captured its fifth straight and 12th overall NCAA Division III women’s lacrosse championship Sunday, downing league-rival Wesleyan, 8-6, in front of an energetic and boisterous crowd at Judson Stadium on the campus of RIT.

This was the seventh all-NESCAC NCAA championship game, including the second straight year and third time in five seasons. Middlebury has participated in all seven of those games, winning six times.

In a game dominated by two outstanding defenses, a pivotal 4-0 Panther run over a 14-minute stretch of the second half proved to be the difference.

“We were a little slow to gain our footing today, but we kept it close and started to develop our rhythm and get our confidence as the game wore on,” said Middlebury head coach Kate Livesay. “We built our momentum by creating big moments off of the little moments.”

Sometimes, statistics in sports can be deceiving, skewed and twisted to fit the desired narrative. But that’s not the case with Middlebury, where the plain and simple numbers accurately reflect the Panthers’ recent dominance.

Sunday’s win extended Middlebury’s current postseason run to 30 straight NCAA tournament wins since 2019, and their 64th straight road or neutral contest victory. The Panthers also registered their fourth undefeated campaign in the last five years and have now won 92 of their last 93 games while playing in the most competitive Division III lacrosse league in the country.

It’s virtually unchartered territory.

“It’s not about the numbers,” said Livesay, who owns an incredible 195-12 record as head coach at Middlebury. “For us, it’s just about enjoying the experience and staying hungry. We try to enjoy the process and we like chasing the trophies.”

Sunday’s game played out along a similar path to the two earlier meetings between the teams this season. Both were low-scoring affairs that featured top-ranked defenses, with the Panthers prevailing 5-4 on April 4 and 7-5 in the NESCAC championship game on May 3. It was a safe bet that, once again, neither team was going to reach double digits in goals in this contest.

Active sticks, quick slides and effective double-teams turned every offensive possession into a trial, resulting in 35 combined turnovers. Clean looks at goal were at a premium for most of the afternoon against two excellent zone defenses backed by quality goalies.

The turning point came midway through the third quarter after Wesleyan had taken a 5-4 lead on Dylan Green’s free position goal. Middlebury responded with four straight goals to turn a one-goal dicit into a three goal lead.

The decisive run began with midfielder Maddie Ackerman’s extra-player goal on Parker Hanson’s second assist of the game, and continued with free position goals from Haley Hamilton and Siobhan Colin to end the quarter.

Senior Caroline Adams, selected as the tournament’s most outstanding player, then capped the run with her second goal of the day, assisted by Kendal Coyne with 9:18 left in the game. Adams also added a team-high four draw controls as well as three ground balls.

In addition to being Middlebury’s leading scorer on the season with 72 goals and 117 points, Adams became the first Panther player to surpass 400 career draw controls earlier this season.

“We have emphasized all year that everyone is a threat, whether on attack or on defense, and that has helped us to all feel super connected this year,” Adams said. “That’s been really special.”

Wesleyan, making its first appearance in the championship game, cut into the deficit on Caroline Cervini’s second goal of the day at 4:29, but was not able to draw any closer. Two shots that hit the crossbar in the closing minutes also hurt the Cardinals, who finished the year with a final 19-4 record and set a new program record for victories in a season.

“It’s just a battle when we play Middlebury because we’re both led by great defenses,” said Wesleyan head coach Kim Williams. “We’re here for the memories and the moments and this was a special experience. Today was a great game and I’m really proud of this team’s effort and how hard we fought to the very end.”

With no signs of stopping anytime soon, Middlebury’s dynasty now moves into very elite lacrosse company, becoming only the second D-III women’s program to capture five or more consecutive NCAA titles (College of New Jersey, 1991-96), and the fourth in any division (Maryland, 1995-2001 & Northwestern, 2005-09).

“There’s a lot of Panther pride behind all the championships,” Livesay said. “The championships are just a reflection of what we pour into the game.”