The NCAA News - News and Features

The NCAA News -- May 24, 1999

Middlebury is perfect from start to finish in women's lacrosse

Undefeated Middlebury (17-0) won its second Division III Women's Lacrosse Championship in three years, holding off a late charge from Amherst to claim a 10-9 victory May 16 at Johns Hopkins.

Amherst (14-3), which -- just as Middlebury -- hails from the New England Small College Athletic Conference, cut the lead to one with 1:19 to play on a goal from Sarah Scheessele, her fifth score of the game. Amherst won the ensuing draw and made a number of drives to the goal before the ball came loose with 25 seconds left. Middlebury's Heidi Howard collected the ground ball and the Panthers collected the title.

"We had a number of people do wonderful things today," said Middlebury coach Missy Foote, who led the team to its third championship-game appearance. "We wanted to come out hard from the beginning."

Amherst, which was appearing in its first championship game, had to withstand a shaky start to come as close as it did. Middlebury jumped to a 4-0 lead in the opening 8:41 and led throughout, though the Lady Jeffs whittled the margin to 4-3 by half time.

The Panthers held a 9-6 lead with 13:17 left. Amherst, which lost to Middlebury, 11-8, during the regular season, scored the last three goals of the game before Howard killed the Lady Jeffs' chances by scooping the last ground ball of the season. Middlebury leads the series with its conference rival, 20-2. The Panthers have not lost to the Lady Jeffs since 1983.

"Our tournament experience was a big plus for us," Foote said. "Our team had nothing left after this game. We displayed an incredible intensity throughout."

Third-year Amherst coach Chris Paradis said her team's early woes proved costly.

"We played a good 50 to 55 minutes of lacrosse," she said. "There were periods of time where we controlled the play."

Katie Samson had 13 saves for the victors; Jessica Thaxton made eight for Amherst.

Five Panthers were named to the all-tournament team, led by Howard, who also made the team last year. She was joined by Samson, Julia Bergofsky, Missy Hopkins and Heidi Dripps. Amherst had three selections -- Osborn, Scheessele and Irene Permut. Other selections were repeater Fran Constantine and Jessica McCourt of College of New Jersey, and William Smith's Sara James and Leslie Khachadourian.

Amherst reached the title game by shocking defending champion College of New Jersey, 11-8, in the semifinals. The loss was the Lions' second in 133 games, snapped the longest winning streak in women's college lacrosse (29 games), and prevented the defending champions from advancing to the championship game for a record ninth straight time. The win was Amherst's 11th straight.

Middlebury started its semifinal game with William Smith the same way it started the title game -- by building a 4-0 lead. Although the Herons eventually cut the lead to 7-5, Middlebury won going away, 13-6.

CHAMPIONSHIP SUMMARY

First round

Rowan 18, Union (N.Y.) 9; Amherst 21, Colorado Col. 13; Salisbury St. 14, Cortland St. 5; Ursinus 9, St. Mary's (Md.) 8.

Quarterfinals

Col. of New Jersey 11, Rowan 7; Amherst 15, Bowdoin 9; Middlebury 16, Salisbury St. 2; William Smith 12, Ursinus 6.

Semifinals

Amherst -- 4 -- 7 -- 11

Col. of New Jersey -- 2 -- 6 -- 8

Amherst scoring: Sarah Scheessele 4, Kristin Osborn 3, Katherine Poulin 2, Eliza Meade 1, Rachel Bernstein 1.

Col. of New Jersey scoring: Jessica McCourt 2, Fran Constantine 2, Megan Wilson 1, Emily Fellona 1, Erika Mastny 1, Dana Latona 1.

Shots: Amherst 26, Col. of New Jersey 23. Saves: Amherst -- Jessica Thaxton 5; Col. of New Jersey -- Sharon Vituli.

William Smith -- 4 -- 3 -- 7

Middlebury -- 7 -- 6 -- 13

William Smith scoring: Sarah James 3, Lindsey Doerge 2, Danae Nason-Junco 1, Rebecca Armiger 1.

Middlebury scoring: Heidi Howard 4, Jessa Martin 3, Julia Bergofsky 2, Heidi Dripps 2, Amity Wall 1.

Shots: William Smith 22, Middlebury 50. Saves: William Smith -- Leslie Khachadourian 23; Middlebury -- Katie Samson 10.

CHAMPIONSHIP

Amherst -- 3 -- 6 -- 9

Middlebury -- 4 -- 6 -- 10

Amherst scoring: Sarah Scheessele 5, Kristin Osborn 2, Katherine Poulin 1, Alie Stechenberg 1.

Middlebury scoring: Heidi Howard 2, Kully Hagerman 2, Katherine Rodormer 2, Jessa Martin 1, Julia Bergofsky 1, Betsy Wheeler 1, Heidi Dripps 1.

Shots: Amherst 20, Middlebury 25. Saves: Amherst -- Jessica Thaxton 8; Middlebury -- Katie Samson 13.