Women miss NCAAs for first time in 16 years

The Middlebury Women’s Lacrosse season came to an end with a 9-8 loss to Colby on Sunday in the NESCAC playoffs in the Quarterfinal game. Middlebury was coming off of an exciting 11-10 win over Williams in their final regular season game when they entered the playoffs. With the win, Middlebury earned the sixth seed for the playoffs, which pitted them against third-seeded Colby.

Middlebury and Colby have developed a rivalry in recent seasons. Colby had eliminated Middlebury in the NESCAC playoffs for the two seasons prior to this one. Middlebury was able to avenge last season’s eliminating loss in the NCAA Regional Final where they met Colby again and won, but this year Middlebury will not receive an NCAA bid for the first time since the tournament has existed. The rivalry continued into this season. In the regular season match-up between the two teams this year, Colby won 11-10 in overtime.

Middlebury struck first, just four minutes in, when Chase Delano ’11 converted a free position shot. Colby was ready to respond, scoring four goals in the first half to take a 4-2 lead at halftime. Middlebury’s other first-half tally came from rookie Heather Marrison ’13.

“We were beating ourselves in the first half of the game, but we really turned things around in the second half, especially at the end of the game when we scored four in a row,” commented defender Kasey Rischmann ’10.

The second half saw more goals than the first. The Middlebury defense had a better half than the first, limiting Colby to only nine shots in the second half in comparison to the nineteen they were able to take in the first. Middlebury, on the other hand, was able to put the ball on net 17 times in the second half, but only scored four.

Colby was on the board first in the second half, but the scoring was mostly back and forth between the two teams. Delano scored two more goals as the teams battled for the lead. However, Colby maintained a significant lead over Middlebury for most of the second half.

They held a 9-4 lead over the Panthers with just under seven minutes remaining in the game, but Middlebury would not give up.

The Panthers went on a four goal scoring run in the final minutes of the game to come within one goal of Colby’s lead. The team came together in an effort to close in on Colby. Goals came from four different scorers: Sally Ryan ’11, Elizabeth Garry ’12, Margaret Souther ’13 and Delano once again.

While the scoring streak in the final moments of the game seemed promising, Colby was able to cause two turnovers in the final two minutes to give Colby possession. With possession Colby was able to effect a stall to run out the time of the game and secure the win. It was a disappointing finish for Middlebury, especially after such an impressive push in the end of the game.

“We were excited to play Colby and we played hard against them, especially in the second half. Obviously it didn’t end the way we wanted but we were proud of our play at the end of the season and we had fun along the way,” said Delano.

Middlebury goalie Lily Nguyen ’12 made yet another impressive performance. She finished the game with 13 saves between the pipes. Nguyen finishes the season leading the NESCAC in save percentage and is second in the NESCAC in both saves overall and saves per game. Nguyen has played a huge role in Middlebury’s defense this season.

“It was rough to lose, but Colby was a good team,” said Rischmann.

“Every single person on our team put in their best effort, which was inspiring to be a part of. As a senior, its bizarre to think that I will never be a part of something so cohesive as this team, but I am confident that the returners can come together next year and pick up where we left off this spring.”

Middlebury finishes the season with an overall record of 8-7. The team will graduate five seniors. Middlebury will lose attackers Lindsay Winstead and Dana Heritage, in addition to defenders Catherine Gotwald, Kasey Rischmann and Carrie Sparkes.