The NCAA News - News and Features

May 4, 1998

Division III Women's Lacrosse

Middlebury aims for second crown

Event: Division III Women's Lacrosse Championship.

Overview: Last year represented a changing of the guard, as Middlebury became the first team other than College of New Jersey to win the title since 1991. The Panthers have taken off again this year, winning their first six games -- the first four on the road -- before bowing to perennial championship challenger William Smith, 12-11. Middlebury is third in scoring offense nationally, averaging 17.86 goals per game. The key players behind that stat have been Heidi Howard (34 goals and 10 assists) and Lina Chickering (33 goals and seven assists) .... College of New Jersey is well on its way to posting its eighth straight undefeated regular season, having won its first seven games. Only two teams, Johns Hopkins (9-7 in overtime) and Franklin and Marshall (12-9), have kept the winning margin under six goals. Dana Latona has 25 goals and 14 assists to lead the Lions .... Trinity (Connecticut) was undefeated after its first seven games, with the most impressive win coming against William Smith, 17-15 (the Herons' only loss). Trinity is the nation's top-ranked offensive team, averaging 19.29 goals per game .... Johns Hopkins, which has made the semifinals five times but never advanced to the championship game, has lost twice, but one of those setbacks was against Division I No. 1 North Carolina in its opener. The Blue Jays' only Division III loss was to College of New Jersey in overtime, 9-7. Danielle Maschuci leads the Blue Jays in scoring with 36 goals and 20 assists. She is ninth in the nation in assists per game (1.89).

Field: Twelve-team, single-elimination tournament. Teams are selected from each of the following regions: New England (three teams), Metro (two), New York (three), West (one) and South Atlantic (three).

Dates and sites: First-round games are May 6 on campuses of participating schools. Quarterfinals are May 9 on campuses. The semifinals and championship will be May 16-17 at Maryland-Baltimore County.

Information/results: The fax-on-demand telephone number is 770/399-3060 (passcode 1915). The request numbers are 5132 for the semifinals and 5133 for the championship. No other games will be posted. Results of the semifinals and finals also will be available on the World Wide Web at www.ncaa.org. First-round and quarterfinal results will be in the May 18 issue of The NCAA News. Semifinal and championship results will be in the May 25 issue.