The top-ranked Middlebury women's lacrosse team earned the automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament following their NESCAC Championship win on Sunday. The Panthers garnered a bye in the first round and will host an opening weekend pod. SUNY Canton and SUNY Geneseo will meet on Saturday to begin the tournament, with Middlebury taking on the winner on Sunday in the second round. Both games will be played on Peter Kohn Field at 1:00 p.m. each day.
 
ABOUT MIDDLEBURY 

• Middlebury is making its 27th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and is seeking its ninth NCAA Championship.
• The program won the national title in each of its last two full seasons competing, bringing home the hardware in 2019 and 2022.
• The Panthers earned their way into the NCAA Tournament, pulling away from #7 Tufts in the NESCAC Championship for a 19-13 victory.
• Middlebury finished the regular season with an unblemished 15-0 mark and is a perfect 18-0 on the year. 
• The team is currently riding a 23-game winning streak entering the NCAA Tournament and has been victorious in 28-straight contests away from Peter Kohn Field. 
• The Panthers rank in the top-10 places nationally in free-position percentage (3rd, .604), scoring margin (5th, +11.17), clearing percentage (6th, .902), scoring offense (7th, 17.61 GPG) and scoring defense (10th, 6.44).

PANTHERS TO WATCH

• Middlebury's offense is balanced with 11 players scoring more than 10 goals this season. 
• Hope Shue paces the conference in goals (62) and goals per game (3.65), while ranking second in points per game (4.47) and points (76). Shue tied a NESCAC Tournament single-game record twice with seven goals in both the quarterfinal and semifinal wins. She has tallied the most points (nine) and goals (seven) among league peers in a single game this year. 
• Jane Earley leads the NESCAC in draw controls per game (5.78), points (82), points per game (4.56), while she is second in goals (60). The senior is second in Middlebury's record books in career goals (203), points (266) and draws (223). She set a program mark for most draw controls in a game earlier this season, winning 13 against then-#3 TCNJ. Earley became just the second player in program history to surpass 100 draw controls in a season (104) during the NESCAC Semifinal win. 
• Kelcey Dion (28G, 12A), Maggie Coughlin (23G, 14A), Susan Rowley (30G, 5A) and Caroline Messer (24G, 7A) are each above the 30-point plateau to aid the output.
• Erica Barr, Kylie Wilson and Chloe Newman anchor a solid defensive unit this year that has limited opponents to 6.44 goals per contest. Barr paces the squad in ground balls (35) and caused turnovers (34), while ranking second with 62 draw controls. She is third on Middlebury's career draws list (206). Wilson is second on the team with 21 caused turnovers, while Newman has 18 caused turnovers and 23 groundballs.
• In front of the Panther goal, Annie Enrietto ranks 11th in Division III with a 6.90 goals-against-average and owns an unbeaten 34-0 career record.

ABOUT THE COMPETITION

• SUNY Geneseo punched its ticket by winning its first SUNYAC title in program history. The Knights defeated SUNY Cortland 11-9 in the championship game. SUNY Geneseo enters the NCAA Tournament with a 14-4 record and winners of seven of its last eight contests.
• SUNY Canton claimed the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) crown to earn an automatic qualifier into the NCAA Tournament. The title was the third league championship in program history for the Roos. SUNY Canton comes into the tournament with a 10-7 overall record and has won seven of the previous eight games.

SERIES HISTORY

• The Panthers and SUNY Geneseo have played one time, with Middlebury winning by a 22-6 count in the second round of last spring's NCAA Tournament.
• SUNY Canton and the Panthers have never played in women's lacrosse.

TOURNAMENT INFORMATION

• The winner of Saturday's first-round game between SUNY Canton and SUNY Geneseo will play Middlebury on Sunday. 
• Championship Central
• Full Bracket