The ninth-ranked Middlebury field hockey team travels to Maryland for the NCAA Tournament Regional Semifinal, squaring off with #8 Endicott on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. The Panthers advanced to the second round following their 6-0 triumph over Westfield State on Wednesday. The winner of Saturday's matchup battles the victor between the day's first contest featuring host and second-ranked Johns Hopkins and #22 Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in Sunday's regional final.
 
ABOUT MIDDLEBURY

• The seven-time defending national champions earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament with a 12-5 record.
• The program makes its 25th NCAA Tournament appearance with a 62-16 overall record. Those 62 victories rank second among all Division III field hockey programs.
• Middlebury is searching for its eighth-consecutive and 10th overall NCAA Title. The team's nine championships stand as the second most in Division III behind The College of New Jersey (11).
• The Panthers rank fifth nationally in penalty corners per game (11.17) and boast a 0.80 goals against average (GAA), which is eighth in Division III. The team also ranks second in the NESCAC in goals per game (2.61), scoring margin (1.55) and shutouts per game (0.44).
• Middlebury has conceded 18 goals this fall with seven shutouts.
• The squad has competed in nine games that have gone to either overtime or a shootout, nearly double the program's prior record for the most in the NESCAC era of five set in 2002. 

PANTHERS TO WATCH

• Izzy Redzic has started 17 of 18 contests in the cage for the Panthers, boasting a 0.86 GAA that sits second in the NESCAC and 10th nationally. She owns 13 wins and four shutouts.
• Grace Keefe, Tessa Herbst and Lily Stockwell anchor the backline this season. Keefe is one of three Middlebury players to eclipse 1,100 minutes and has tallied 12 points (four goals, four assists). Herbst has started all 18 games and leads the team with 1,203 minutes of action. Stockwell has also made the opening 11 in every contest, logging 912 minutes.
• The Panthers have received sizable contributions from the midfield trio of Megan Fuqua, Addie Chandler and Emma McCann. Fuqua owns team-leading totals of 13 goals, including four in the opening round, and 28 points. Chandler has found the back of the cage on eight occasions and added three assists in her rookie season, collecting one of each against Westfield State. McCann has fired six goals, with two in her prior four games, alongside two helpers.
• Claire McMichael has served as the team's top distributor, dishing out six assists. She is one of five on the squad with double-digit points and tallied the overtime game-winner in the NESCAC Quarterfinals against Bowdoin.
• Ellie Harrison and Georgianne Defeo round out the top contributors. Harrison has scored twice and aided two scoring efforts in 18 appearances, while Defeo has started every game and recorded two helpers this fall.

ABOUT #8 ENDICOTT

• Endicott claimed the program's seventh conference championship and first Conference of New England (CNE) title as the Gulls defeated Roger Williams in overtime 2-1 to secure the league's automatic bid.
• The Gulls eased past Keene State in Wednesday's NCAA first round by a 9-0 tally.
• Endicott is making its seventh NCAA Tournament appearance with a 4-5 record.  
• The Gulls have surpassed the 10-win threshold over the past 11 campaigns and broke the program victory record (21) in 2025.
• Endicott enters Saturday's contest as winners of 21 in a row with a 21-1 record, including a 7-0 mark in CNE play. The Gulls pace Division III in several categories, including goals per game (5.32), points per game (13.45), scoring margin (4.60) and save percentage (.899).

GULLS TO WATCH

• Tori Swanson, Reagan Hicks and Maddy Dengler headline the Gull offense. Swanson leads the squad in goals (24) and points (56), while Hicks has six game-winning tallies and is second on the team in points (55), goals (23) and assists (nine). The senior produced a hat trick during Wednesday's triumph. Dengler sits atop the Endicott ranks with 10 helpers and adds 18 goals for 46 points.
• Riley Perkins also resides above the 30-point plateau, scoring 12 goals and adding seven assists for 31 points. She has converted 10 of 11 penalty strokes this fall and has recorded a pair of defensive saves in 19 contests.
• Joining Perkins on the defensive unit are Natalia Correia and Adie Bolduc. Correia has started all 22 games and stepped forward to score a pair of goals, while Bolduc has played in every contest with 20 starts. The Gull backline has surrendered 14 goals this season
• Guarding the cage for Endicott has been Faith Minickene, who leads the country with a .899 save percentage. She has amassed a 20-1 record across 22 games with 116 saves and six shutouts. 

#2 JOHNS HOPKINS NOTES

• Johns Hopkins, which is ranked second in the latest National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) poll, enters the NCAA Tournament with a 19-1 record and an 18-game winning streak.
• The Blue Jays earned the Centennial Conference's automatic berth into the tournament with a 4-1 win over Dickinson in the title game.
• Johns Hopkins makes its seventh-straight NCAA Tournament appearance and 13th overall, posting a 17-14 mark in the postseason event.
• The Blue Jays have advanced to championship weekend five times with three national championship game appearances. 
• The program has outscored its opponents 60-16 heading into the NCAA postseason and owns top-10 spots in the nation in winning percentage (.950 - fourth), save percentage (.856 - sixth) and GAA (0.82 - 10th).
• Forward Megan Chang leads a four-player attack for Johns Hopkins with 10 goals and seven assists. Grace Waldeck (9G, 6A), Jenna Halpin (5G, 10A) and Caeli Robinson (7G, 6A) are also north of 20 points.
• Aubrey Kilgore has started every game with a 17-1 record, ranking seventh nationally in save percentage (.859) in 878:45 of game action. Jessica Lapidus has appeared in all 20 contests with 339:31 in front of the cage, a 0.71 GAA and a pair of victories. 

#22 WPI NOTES

• WPI heads into this weekend's regional action with a 15-5 record. 
• The Engineers claimed a 1-0 win in the first round, slipping past Stevenson on a goal midway through the second quarter.
• The program secured an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament after falling to top-seeded Babson 1-0 in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championship tilt. 
• This will be the fifth time that WPI has made it into the NCAA Tournament and the first occasion since 1992. Wednesday's victory was the second in the program's history (2-4).  
• Lauren Meinhold has been the top performer on the Engineer offensive side with team-high totals in goals (10) and assists (five). Abbey Powers has nine markers and three assists, while Leah Uglevich has scored eight times and assisted on two others.
• Shannon Miranda leads the defensive backline, appearing in all 20 games with 17 starts. Madeline Chase has logged the start in each contest and paces WPI with three defensive saves.
• In front of the goal, Myles Lakin has tallied 1,190:56 of action and is third in the country with an .874 save percentage and 12th sporting a 0.91 GAA. 

SERIES HISTORY VS. MIDDLEBURY

• Saturday's battle between Middlebury and Endicott will be the second matchup this fall and the fourth overall. The Gulls edged the Panthers 2-1 in overtime on September 28 in Massachusetts. Middlebury posted a 5-1 triumph in the 2021 NCAA Tournament Second Round, while the Panthers earned 4-1 and 7-1 victories in 2023 and 2024, respectively.
• If Middlebury and Johns Hopkins meet, it would be the fifth matchup. Three of the previous four have come in the NCAA Tournament championship game. The Panthers secured wins in the 2021 (4-1), 2022 (1-0 OT) and 2023 (2-0) national title contests, while Middlebury tallied a 3-1 triumph last fall in the regional final on its way to its seventh-straight NCAA crown.
• If the Panthers and WPI square off in the regional final, the matchup will be the first in field hockey. 

TOURNAMENT INFORMATION

• NCAA Championship Interactive Bracket
• NCAA Championship Selection Show
• Johns Hopkins Championship Central