MEDFORD, MA (May 16, 2024) -- The No. 4 Tufts University women's lacrosse team will head out on the road for the first time in the 2024 NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse Tournament this weekend, heading to Lancaster, Pennsylvania and Franklin & Marshall College for the sectional rounds. The Jumbos will take on Denison University on Saturday at 4:00 p.m., following the other Third Round game featuring Roanoke College and the host Diplomats. The winners will play at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday inside Shadek Stadium.
Game Details
NCAA Tournament Website -
Bracket
Schedule:
Saturday, May 18
No. 12 Roanoke (17-4) vs. No. 3 Franklin & Marshall (17-3) - 1 p.m.
No. 4 Tufts (15-3) vs. Denison (15-4) - 4:00 p.m.
Sunday, May 19
Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner - 2:30 p.m.
Location: Lancaster, PA - Shadek Stadium -
Directions
Live Coverage:
LIVE STATS -
LIVE VIDEO
Against This Weekend All-Time
Tufts will take on Denison University for the first time in program history on Saturday, while it will be just the sixth game ever for the Big Red against a New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) foe. Denison has played Roanoke and Franklin and Marshall before, going 0-5 against the host Diplomats while posting a 1-5 record against the Maroons having played both teams last year. The Jumbos have played F&M four times before this weekend, most recently in 2022 when Tufts won a 14-9 in the NCAA Quarterfinals. All four games have come in the NCAA Tournament, and all four have come since 2009. Tufts and Roanoke have never played before.
A Look At The Big Red (15-4)
Denison University comes into this weekend coming off a home win over No. 22 University of Scranton last weekend, defeating the Royals 13-6 in the NCAA Second Round. The Big Red won the North Coast Atlantic Conference automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament, knocking off DePauw University in semifinals and Kenyon College 16-11 in the title game.
Denison recently earned a ton of honors as released by the NCAC, as junior defender Mary Daniel was named the NCAC Defensive Player of the Year while freshman defender Grace Schlossberg was tabbed as the Newcomer of the Year and Head Coach Amanda Daniels and the Big Red earned the Coaching Staff of the Year for the third time in her career. Josie Lucchesi and Bridget Sheehy were NCAC First Team honorees, while attacker Maddie Morrell and senior defender Kate Coward were both named to the second team and senior attacker Merrill Rollhaus and sophomore midfielder Mary Martinson both earned their spot on the third-team.
The Big Red come into the weekend ranked in the top 50 of virtually every statistical category in Division III, including leading the NCAC in caused turnovers, clearing percentage, free-position percentage, scoring defense and margin and shots per game. The Big Red fire over 35 shots per game on average, 10th-best in the NCAA, while also ranking 20th in scoring offense at 16.11 goals per game. Individually, Mary Daniel leads the team with 4.65 draw controls per game, while Merrill Rollhaus has 4.26 draws per game as well.
The offense is very deep for Denison, as six players have 26 goals or more highlighted by the 46 from Maddie Morrell. Lucchesi leads the team in points with 65, while Daniel has a team-high 35 ground balls to go with 21 caused turnovers. Julianne Henigan and Audrey Hughes have shared the net all season, combining to make 110 saves and a team save percentage of 40.3 percent.
F&M and Roanoke At A Glance
The Diplomats have traditionally been one of the top programs year-in and year-out in the nation, coming into the weekend ranked No. 3 in the latest Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) Top 20 poll. F&M has won five straight games dating back to a 12-11 loss to Gettysburg on April 17, but knocked off the Bullets 16-15 in the Centennial Conference title game to earn the automatic bid. Last weekend, F&M cruised past St. Mary's (MD) 19-7 behind four goals apiece from Lydia Cassilly and Lane Lambeth.
The Diplomats come into this weekend ranked No. 23 in the nation in scoring margin at 7.20, while ranking ninth in scoring offense with almost 17 goals per game. The Dips also are posting over 36 shots per game, fifth-most per game in the country, while also ranking first in the Centennial Conference in assists per game, draw controls won per game and points per game. Cassily leads the team with 96 points, ranking No. 34 in the country, while Lauren Pittman has 90 points and Gillian Brennan has 79 points as well this year. F&M has four players with 50-plus goals, led by Pittman and her 67. Cassilly has 63, while Brennan and Lambeth have 59 and 58, respectively. Alyssa Moran has started all but one game in goal, making 110 saves.
The Maroons are coming in off wins over Hope College and Capital University last weekend, and have won nine of their last 10. The only loss came in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) finals, falling to top-seed Washington & Lee University 11-10. The Maroons statistically are one of the top squads in the entire nation, ranking sixth in clear percentage, seventh in draw control percentage and third in turnovers per game. They also have the nation's 15th best scoring defense at 7.62 goals per game, and are scoring on 53.3 percent of their free position attempts.
Roanoke is led offensively by Grace Koutouzis and her 104 points, scoring 51 goals to go with a whopping 53 assists. Kate Koughran has 47 goals and 27 assists, while Libby Bowman has 56 goals and 16 assists. Sophia Chickering has a team-best 168 draw controls, ranking 16th in the nation in the category, while Addison Schmidt leads the Maroons with 29 caused turnovers and 41 grounders. Kyleigh Chickering has started 19 of 21 games in the net, stopping 51.3 percent of shots on goal.
Around the Bracket
Middlebury College will host a four-team bracket this weekend featuring Colorado College, Ithaca College and Pomona-Pitzer, while fellow NESCAC squad Wesleyan University will play host to league-mate Colby College, Gettysburg College and Wiliam Smith College. The bottom right bracket features host Salisbury University against Babson College, with Washington & Lee and Christopher Newport also battling in the Third Round.
--JUMBOS--
