Box Score

MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – Fifth-ranked Middlebury College used a 9-1 run to surge past No. 4 Gettysburg College and claim the regional title with a 13-9 victory in the NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse Championship Sunday at Kohn Field.
 
With a trip to the national semifinals on the line, Gettysburg (18-3) set the tempo in the opening 15 minutes. After Middlebury (20-1) scored the first goal, the Bullets picked up back-to-back goals by seniors Abby Baigelman (Larchmont, N.Y./Mamaroneck) and Amanda Borucki (Westminster, Md./North Carroll), the latter coming on a free-position shot at 23:32.
 
The Panthers stopped Gettysburg on its next three possessions with a save and a pair of caused turnovers before tying the game 2-2 on a score by Bridget Instrum.
 
Junior Shannon Keeler (Moorestown, N.J./Moorestown) tallied a save on Middlebury's next shot and the Bullets came back down the field for a goal. Baigelman dropped it in front to sophomore Maggie Welsh (Rye, N.Y./Holy Child) at 16:02. Just 36 seconds later, senior Emily Tropsa (Darien, Conn./Darien) drew a foul inside the eight-meter arc and flipped the ensuing free-position shot into the goal for a 4-2 advantage.
 
Middlebury turned up the pressure offensively by scoring on each of its next six possessions in the first half. Megan Griffin capped the run with a goal followed by an assist to Laurel Pascal to make it 8-4 with two minutes before halftime. Goalie Katie Mandigo also posted three saves to keep the Bullets off the board.
 
Baigelman posted the final goal of the period off a pass from senior Maggie Connolly (Winchester, Mass./Winchester) to make it 8-5.
 
Middlebury carried the momentum into the final stanza. After three turnovers by the Bullets to start the period, the Panthers received three-straight goals by Griffin, Bridget Instrum, and Pascal to jump ahead 11-5 with 21:08 remaining.
 
Gettysburg refused to go away and came back with a three-goal run. Sophomore Katie Willis (Baltimore, Md./Notre Dame Prep) started the surge with a free-position goal. Despite losing a player to a yellow card, the Bullets tacked on two more goals, the first by Willis and the second by Landry to pull the score to 11-8 with 13:28 to go.
 
Middlebury countered the run by grabbing the ensuing draw control and receiving a goal by Instrum at 11:47. Mandigo came up with another big save after the Bullets won the draw control, but after a series of possession changes Gettysburg sliced the deficit back to three on a free-position goal by Willis with 7:31 remaining.
 
The Bullets would get no closer, turning the ball over on their final three possessions, while Griffin tossed in the game's final goal with just over five minutes left.
 
Middlebury finished with a 27-24 lead in shots and a 15-13 advantage in ground balls. Gettysburg led in draw controls 14-10.
 
Willis finished with three goals and Baigelman tallied two goals and two assists. Connolly dished out a pair of assists and grabbed three draw controls. She finished her career sixth in program history with 181 career draw controls.
 
Senior Christina Wright (Kingsville, Md./Fallston) came up with three ground balls and a caused turnover for Gettysburg. Keeler finished with four saves in 38:52, while freshman Bailey Pilder (New Canaan, Conn./New Canaan) posted a pair of stops in the final 21:08.
 
Gettysburg set a new program season record with a team goals against average of 5.79 this season.
 
Instrum finished with four goals and one assist for Middlebury. Griffin tallied three goals and two assists, while Pascal posted three goals. Mandigo recorded eight saves and three ground balls.