LEXINGTON, Va. — The Middlebury College field hockey team on Sunday in Lexington, Va., claimed its seventh straight NCAA Division III title with a 2-1 victory over NESCAC rival Tufts, a team that had defeated the Panthers on its home field during the regular season. 

Middlebury got goals in the third period from Caroline Segal and in the fourth period from Georgianne Defeo before surrendering a late goal. The Panthers improved to 19-2, and Tufts wrapped up at 19-3. 

Tufts defeated fellow conference foe Williams, 1-0 in overtime, in one NCAA semifinal two days earlier, when also the Panthers defeated Salisbury, 2-1. To put the Panthers seven-season NCAA title streak in perspective, Salisbury owns the second-longest NCAA D-III title streak at three.

Middlebury Coach Katharine DeLorenzo said in the postgame press conference No. 7 didn’t come easily on Sunday.

“This was the best opponent we faced all year, and we ramped it up to the best performance our team was able to put together,” DeLorenzo said.

DeLorenzo added, while declining to provide details, that she and her staff had designed a specific game plan to attack Tufts. Last week, after the Panthers rolled through the regional tournament, she had praised her team’s intelligence and ability to adapt to new concepts.

“Tufts is a brilliant, brilliant defensive team, and we had to prepare ourselves to take more risks than we’ve taken all year, to set up a little differently,” DeLorenzo said. “We really had to trust the concept was something important for today and carry that out in combination with the basic grit you have to bring to any championship.”

PANTHER MIDFIELDER LILLY Branka flicks a shot at the Tufts goal during Sunday’s NCAA Division III final.
Photo by Keith Lucas-Sideline Media

She was also pleased with the Panthers’ assertion in the game. 

“We played in a way that forced them to chase us, adjust to us, not the other way around,” DeLorenzo said.

The game stats bear out the Panthers’ edge in play. Middlebury outshot the Jumbos, 13-4, and earned a 10-2 advantage in penalty corners

Senior midfielder Lilly Branka, named the final four MVP after her stellar midfield play in both games, including an assist in each, said the team’s nine seniors were determined to finish their careers strong, 

“We were talking about this being the last game of the year, no matter what, and we were nine seniors out there who knew this was our last game regardless,” Branka said. “We went into the game knowing we had to leave it all out there, and I think that’s exactly what we did.”

NOV. 22 SEMIFINAL

Before the final, the Panthers had had to get past Salisbury two days earlier, also in Lexington. Middlebury dominated Salisbury (17-3) statistically, but needed to rally in the second half to prevail, 2-1, on goals from Segal and Amy Griffin, with Griffin’s proving to be the game-winner. 

The Panthers outshot the Gulls, 15-1, with Salisbury scoring in the second period on its only shot at goal. Middlebury amassed a 7-0 advantage on penalty corners.

Middlebury had a great chance on its first penalty corner, but a Gull defender deflected defender Grace Keefe’s blast wide left. It was the Panthers’ only shot of the period. 

The Gulls only shot of the game came 38 seconds into the second period and it found its way in: Arden Hunteman’s bid bounced off a Panther stick and into the bottom left corner.

PANTHER MIDFIELDER KATHARINE Lantzy bolts upfield with the ball during Sunday’s NCAA Division III final.
Photo by Keith Lucas-Sideline Media

Two minutes later, Salisbury goalie Abbey McIlvain kicked away a Griffin shot, and the Panthers had three shots on goal in the scramble that followed. McIlvain blocked two of them, and defender Hannah Johnson made a defensive save.

Middlebury continued pressing, but McIlvain denied back-to-back bids from Segal and Megan Fuqua in the 22nd minute. 

Middlebury finally tied the score in the second minute after halftime. Segal collected a pass from Branka and fired a reverse-stick shot that deflected in off a Seagull defender.

Griffin broke the tie with 4:54 left in the game. Griffin took the ball off a restart, broke toward the shooting circle, eluded two defenders, and fired a reverse sweep that flew through Mcllvain’s legs.

It was the second straight year in which Griffin scored the game-winner in an NCAA semifinal. The goal was her 11th of the season and 56th as a Panther. Her career point total rose to 161, tying her for third all-time with 2022 graduate Erin Nicholas. The win was Middlebury’s 56th in a row over a non-conference opponent.

FINAL

In Sunday’s final, the Panthers scored twice in the second half to take the lead. Tufts answered after the second Panther goal, which came from Defeo in the fourth quarter, but the Panthers slammed the door defensively after that strike on the way to this historic title.  

The Panthers had a great chance in the sixth minute on the first of their corners, but Tufts goalie Lydia Eastburn swatted away a Keefe blast that was ticketed for the upper right corner. 

PANTHER CENTER BACK Grace Keefe carries the ball up the field during Sunday’s NCAA Division III final.
Photo by Keith Lucas-Sideline Media

The Jumbos countered in the ninth minute with one of their two shots on goal. Claire Gavin picked up an errant bounce off a Panther stick and shot toward the left side of the cage, but Middlebury goalie Madeline DiLemme blocked Gavin’s backhanded sweep.

The Panthers had two final chances in the opening quarter off penalty corners, but Tufts defenders blocked shots by Emily Stone in the 10th minute and Fuqua in the 15th minute.  

In the first minute of the second period, the Panthers kept pressing, but Eastburn stopped Defeo at the left post. Two minutes later, Branka beat two defenders along the right end line, but Eastburn denied her at the left post.

Middlebury broke through with 2:10 to go in the third period, when Branka and Segal teamed up. Branka attacked along the end line to the left of the Tufts goal and fed Segal cutting to the center of the net. Segal dove to meet the pass and in one motion lifted the ball into the far side of the goal. In the postgame press conference Branka offered Segal’s all-out dive as an example of Middlebury’s grit. 

The Panthers made it 2-0 in the sixth minute of the fourth quarter on a counterattack. Sophomore midfielder Claire McMichael bolted into open space on the right side and found Defeo breaking alone into the scoring circle. Eastburn came out to cut down the shooting angle, but Defeo, racing forward near the penalty stripe, flicked the ball over the sprawling goalie and into the right side of the cage.

Defeo credited McMichael. 

“She gave me that goal,” Defeo said. “It was a beautiful, beautiful feed.”

Tufts responded with its only goal 22 seconds later on a penalty corner. Kylie Rosenquest, on the right side of the circle, found the upper left corner after a feed from Lainie Pearson.

Middlebury didn’t allow a shot the rest of the way, and soon the Panthers were trying on their championship hats and T-shirts. 

MIDDLEBURY FORWARD CAROLINE Segal chases down the ball in the Tufts circle during Sunday’s NCAA Division III final.
Photo by Keith Lucas-Sideline Media

Branka was named the tournament’s most outstanding player, and was joined on the all-tournament squad by Griffin (two goals and two assists), defensive anchor Keefe (goal, assist) and Segal (six goals, assist).

Branka and Defeo talked about what the title and the season meant to them in the postgame press conference.

“It was really special to end on such a high note. We put countless hours into this team and this sport, and we love our coaches, and we love each other,” Branka said. “We wanted to be the best team in D3 field hockey, and I think we showed that today, and I’m just so proud.”

Defeo said she was “just beaming” when the final horn sounded.

“When that buzzer went off, we felt it was completely earned by us. And I think there was a lot of pride,” she said. “I felt proud of my seniors, proud of my younger teammates. Being part of something like this is a privilege.”