NCAA Division III Championship Game Notes

Tournament Time: Gettysburg College is making its third appearance in the national title game and for the second time, the Bullets will face The College of New Jersey for the championship.

Hosts: This year's championship is being hosted by the Old Dominion Athletic Conference and the City of Salem. The games will be played at Kerr Stadium on the campus of Roanoke College. Salem also served as host of the 2008 and 2009 Division III semifinals and championship.

Live Coverage: The NCAA and Turner Sports will provide live coverage of all of this weekend's events. Links to live video of the championship game can be found at http://www.ncaa.com/game/lacrosse-women/d3/2017/05/28/gettysburg-tcnj.

It's Finals Time: Gettysburg made its first trip to the championship game in 2006 when it dropped a 10-4 decision to TCNJ. The Bullets returned triumphant in 2011, taking out Bowdoin 16-5 to claim the institution's first NCAA team title. TCNJ is making its 19th title game appearance. The Lions have won 12 national titles overall. The team's last appearance in the championship was in 2006.

Gettysburg Breakdown: Gettysburg qualified for the NCAA playoffs for the 17th time in 18 seasons after finishing runner-up in the Centennial Conference Championship. Gettysburg's resume includes seven wins over programs ranked among the nation's top 12 teams in the most recent IWLCA poll. The Bullets have allowed just 12 goals in four NCAA contests this season. Gettysburg took down Trinity 8-4 behind a career-high tying 15 saves by senior Shannon Keeler. The Orange and Blue padded the lead with a five-goal run at the start of the second period. Senior Caroline Jaeger and juniors Maggie McClain and Katie Willis each tossed in a pair of goals, while junior Katie Landry tallied a goal and three assists. Junior Cassie Smith picked up four ground balls and a draw control. Jaeger and Smith were named All-America this season. A third-team selection, Jaeger paces the team with 45 goals and ranks second with 41 draw controls. Smith was a second-team pick and leads Gettysburg with 33 ground balls and 20 caused turnovers. Gettysburg's defense came into the weekend ranked fourth in the country in goals allowed per game (4.86). A three-time All-Centennial Conference pick, Keeler came into the semifinals ranked fourth in the country in goals against average (5.03) and seventh in save percentage (.564). Landry has put up a carer-high 76 points and a personal best 43 assists this spring. Head Coach Carol Cantele is one of four coaches in the history of NCAA women's lacrosse to reach 400 career wins.

TCNJ Breakdown: TCNJ has turned in a near-perfect season with only a two-goal loss to Middlebury (6-4) marring its slate. The Lions hold NCAA records for appearances (32), wins (79), final four appearances (24), and titles (12). The team has out-scored its three NCAA foes 46-14. TCNJ survived a double-overtime thriller with Washington & Lee yesterday. The Lions erased a 3-1 deficit to win 5-4 on a goal by Alex Fitzpatrick midway through the second overtime. Olivia Muller and Olivia Cleale each produced a goal and an assist, while Elizabeth Morrison came up with three caused turnovers. The Lions feature the nation's top defense with just over three goals allowed per game. No opponent has scored more than six goals. Sophomore Miranda Chrone owns the country's top GAA at 3.19. Senior Mia Blackman and Morrison were each named All-America First Team. Blackman has scored 49 goals, while Morrison picked up her third national accolade after posting 57 ground balls, 61 draw controls, and 56 caused turnovers. Sophomore Kathleen Jaeger leads the Lions with 51 goals and 59 points this season. Head Coach Sharon Pfluger is the NCAA's all-time wins leader with a career record of 494-54-1 over 31 seasons.

The Series: The Bullets trail TCNJ 16-5 in a series that has been played every year since 2000. The Lions hold a 3-1 edge in the NCAA playoffs, including a 10-4 win in the 2006 championship game. Each of the last five games have been decided by one goal. The squads have met six times where one was ranked No. 1. The Lions are 2-1 against the Bullets as the No. 1 team. When the team's met in the 2006 title game, Gettysburg was the top team in the country and sported a perfect 21-0 record.

Last Meeting: TCNJ erased a 3-1 deficit to take down top-ranked Gettysburg 7-6 on March 30. Alex Fitzgpatrick opened the scoring for the Lions, but Emma Christie tallied two of Gettysburg's first three goals for a 3-1 lead. Mia Blackman netted a pair of tallies and Kathleen Jaeger scored to put TCNJ back in front 4-3. The score would be tied twice more before back-to-back goals by the Lions made it 7-5 with 3:11 to go. Christie scored her fourth goal of the game to slice the deficit in half, but the Bullets turned the ball over on their final possession with 40 seconds left. TCNJ led in shots (17-13), while Gettysburg led in draw controls (8-7). Blackman posted three goals and Elizabeth Morrison notched a pair of caused turnovers for TCNJ. Gettysburg goalie Shannon Keeler logged six saves, while TCNJ counterpart Miranda Chrone finished with five stops. 

Going Dancing Again: Gettysburg has qualified for the NCAA playoffs in each of the last 16 seasons. That is the third-longest active streak behind The College of New Jersey (32) and SUNY Cortland (19). The Bullets have appeared in NCAAs in 17 of the last 18 seasons overall. 

Return to Roanoke: Gettysburg competed in the semifinals at Kerr Stadium in 2009. The Bullets took top-ranked Salisbury down to the wire in a game that featured six ties. The Sea Gulls tossed in the final two goals and a last-second shot by the Bullets clanged off the post. Salisbury won 11-10, but fell to Franklin & Marshall in the final. 

400-Win Club: Carol Cantele '83 became the fourth women's lacrosse coach to reach 400 career wins with the team's quartefinal win last weekend. Cantele is 401-128 in 29 seasons as a head coach, including 377-105 in 25 years at Gettysburg. The remaining members of the 400-win club are Sharon Pfluger (The College of New Jersery, 494-54-1), Cindy Timchal (Navy, 491-129), and Missy Foote (Middlebury, 422-114). All three active coaches (Cantele, Pfluger, Timchal) led their teams into the semifinals this weekend.

Playing the Best: Gettysburg has played a strong schedule of games this spring with eight opponents currently ranked among the nation's top 12. The Bullets beat five of those foes: No. 2 Washington & Lee (11-4), No. 4 Messiah (7-6), No. 5 Franklin & Marshall (12-6), No. 11 York (9-5), No. 12 Hamilton (10-6), No. 9 Salisbury (10-2), and No. 10 Trinity (8-4). Franklin & Marshall was ranked No. 1 in the country at the time of its first meeting with Gettysburg. The Orange and Blue's only loss came at hands of current No. 1 TCNJ (7-6) on March 30.

Record Defense: Gettysburg is on pace to smash its season record for goals against average. The Bullets are currently at 4.78, well ahead of the program pace of 5.79 set just last season. The team is also on target to break the Centennial Conference mark of 5.33 set by Franklin & Marshall in 2007.

All-Centennial Conference: Seven Bullets landed spots on the all-conference team. Juniors Katie Landry and Cassie Smith and senior Caroline Jaeger were all named first-team all-league. It was Landry's second-straight first-team honor. Freshman Courtney Patterson and seniors Macauley Mikes and Shannon Keeler were each named second team. Keeler earned all-conference accolades for the third time. Senior Emma Christie rounded out the selections as honorable mention. Additionally, Patterson was named the CC Rookie of the Year.

All-Region: Four Bullets were named to the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association All-Metro Region Team. Senior Caroline Jaeger and juniors Katie Landry and Cassie Smith were first-team picks, while senior Macauley Mikes earned second team. Landry was the lone repeat selection after earning first team last spring.

All-Americans: Gettysburg features two first-time All-Americans this spring in second-team selection Cassie Smith and third-team honoree Caroline Jaeger. Smith has been the cornerstone of a record-breaking defensive effort by the Bullets this season. The junior has started all 23 games and leads the team in caused turnovers (20) and ground balls (33) and ranks third in draw controls (39). Jaeger has started all 23 games in the midfield and leads the team in goals scored with a career-high 45. She has posted career highs in shooting percentage (.563) and caused turnovers (10). The Bullet senior is the second member of her family to gain All-America recognition, following in the footsteps of sister Ali Jaeger, who was a three-time All-American at The College of New Jersey.

100 Goals: Junior Katie Landry scored her 100th career goal last week against Rhodes. Landry now has 106 goals for her career to go along with 84 assists. She ranks sixth in program history in assists, while her 190 points are 16th. The junior has tallied career highs for assists (43) and points (76) this season. 

Most Cage Wins: Senior Shannon Keeler has climbed to the top of the program's career wins list with a record of 66-12. Keeler is the midst of a career year between the pipes with personal bests for GAA (5.00) and save percentage (.584). She currently leads the conference in both categories, while ranking fourth and seventh, respectively, in the nation. In addition to being the all-time wins leader at Gettysburg, Keeler ranks fifth in career saves (451) and second in career GAA (6.68).

Final Four Families: Sophomore Steph Colson isn't the only member of her family in the final four this weekend. Her younger sister, Lizzie Colson, is a freshman midfielder for the University of Maryland, which meets Boston College in the Division I championship today. Their older sister, Allie Colson, helped Messiah College reach the third round of NCAAs. Senior Caroline Jaeger joins cousin and TCNJ midfielder Kathleen Jaeger in this weekend's event. Caroline's older sister, Ali Jaeger, led TCNJ to the NCAA semifinals twice in 2008 and 2011. Freshman Liza Barr is following the final four footsteps of her father, Brian Barr '86, who helped Gettysburg's football team reach the national semifinals in 1985. Brian Barr was an All-American defensive back and was inducted into the school's Hall of Athletic Honor in 2006.

Isn't It Ironic: Gettysburg's 2017 season is reminiscent of its run to the national title in 2011. In both campaigns, the team lost to TCNJ by a goal during the regular season, and suffered a 7-6 setback to Franklin & Marshall in the Centennial Conference title game. In both sets of playoffs, the Bullets took on the top scoring team in the country, defeating Adrian 25-10 in 2011 and taking out Rhodes 19-1 in 2017. Gettysburg also defeated Salisbury in the regional championship in both years. Finally, both teams entered the NCAA tournament ranked seventh in the country.

Stone-Cold Defense: Rhodes came into its third-round game against Gettysburg averaging over 20 goals a game and had two players with more than 100 points. The Lynx had no answer for the defensive pressure applied by the Bullets, posting season lows for goals (1), shots (9), ground balls (13), and draw controls (7), while committing 21 turnovers, nine of which occured on clears. Rhodes' two potent scorers were held to one goal combined.

First Graduates: Gettysburg College held a Special Commencement Ceremony for seniors Emma Christie, Caroline Jaeger, Shannon Keeler, Macauley Mikes, and Katelyn Neillands on May 18 - three days before the College's full-scale graduation ceremony. The lacrosse seniors were treated to all the bells and whistles of the regular event, including entering the south side of historic Penn Hall and exiting on the north side. Four years ago as freshman, they went the opposite direction through Penn Hall, which was used as a hospital during the Battle of Gettysburg. As a bonus, the five seniors were given their official degrees, which aren't available until Commencement, by President Janet Riggs '77 following last Sunday's victory over Salisbury.

Return of the Mac: No Gettysburg player has appeared in more games than senior Macauley Mikes. The Columbus, Ohio, native appeared in her 85th career game yesterday, breaking the program record set by Hannah Church '12. A second-team all-region selection, Mikes has played in at least 20 games every season and has accumulated 67 ground balls, 18 draw controls, and 37 caused turnovers.