ROCHESTER, NY (May 22, 2026) – The No. 4 Tufts University women's lacrosse team battled back from an 8-1 deficit in the first half to force overtime, but the Jumbos would eventually drop a heartbreaking 10-9 decision in overtime to No. 1 Middlebury College in the Division III NCAA Women's Lacrosse semifinals at Judson Stadium on the campus of Rochester Institute of Technology.  

Despite fall in the extra session the Jumbos finish another stellar season at 17-4 while advancing to the NCAA Final Four for the fourth time, all since 2019.

"The fight in this team is unreal," said head coach Courtney Shute. "It was a tale of two halves and to come back and give ourselves a chance in the end. Taking 22 shots, I doubt that team has given that many up or lost the draw by that margin. The fight is unreal; I told them there's not a ton of firsts left in this program, but that fight and that moment is a first."

Middlebury controlled most of the opening two stanzas, as the Panthers scored the game's first five goals with Caroline Adams netting a goal and two assists to lead 5-0 at 12:22 of the second frame.
Tufts got on the board moments later with the man advantage, as sophomore Neta Leschly scored from Eleanor Helm to make it 5-1. Middlebury scored the next three goals to make it 8-1, but Allie Zorn scored at 2:53 to pull to within six at 8-2.

Just before halftime, Tufts got a big save with 30 seconds to play in the period and the Jumbos converted in transition thanks to an Elsa Schutt man-down goal from Anna Mollahan to make it 8-3 at the break.
Middlebury outshot Tufts 15-5 in the first half, while the Jumbos struggled to hang onto the ball with 10 total turnovers.

The Jumbos continued the momentum into the second half, as Helm scored 40 seconds into the half to from Zorn, while Zorn tallied moments later to make it an 8-5 game.
The Panthers netted one back on a free position shot to push their lead back up to four at 9-5, stopping the four-goal run for the Jumbos.

Tufts pulled back to within three after forcing a possession clock violation on Middlebury, and Helm tallied from junior Sophia Claps to make it 9-6. Claps kept the momentum going with her first of the game to make it a 9-7 contest going into the fourth quarter.

The Jumbos outshot Middlebury 11-2 in the third quarter, while earning five of the six draw controls in the frame. It truly was a dominant third quarter for Tufts. 

"We believed," said Zorn. "It's one thing to say you believe and repeat it back, but looking at my teammates, we truly believed that we could put ourselves back in the game. I'm just so inspired by the way we did that because that's not supposed to happen. That was the message; keep fighting."

In the fourth, Tufts junior goalkeeper Sophie Powless made four big saves while Tufts forced three turnovers to have a chance to tie the game with less than four minutes to play. On the possession the Jumbos couldn't find a great look and turned the ball over with 2:44 remaining on a clock violation.

Middlebury was successful on a clear, and a point-blank shot after a timeout was stuffed by Powless with 90 seconds to play. After the clear was good, Tufts took a timeout to set up the offense with 1:16 left.

As the clock was winding down in the game, Tufts looked frantic in possession, but a great cross-crease pass from Schuyler Lloyd opened up the back post for Claps. Claps caught and finished on the high inside the right post to send the game to overtime.



In the extra session, Tufts was assessed a green card and Adams scored on the only shot of overtime to put the Panthers into the NCAA title game.

The Jumbos came back from not having a shot in the opening 15 minutes to outshoot the Panthers 27-21 while holding a decided 12-7 edge in draw controls. A key stat in the game was free positions, as Tufts was 0-for-4 while Middlebury converted on three of its five eight-meter attempts.

Zorn finished her heralded career at Tufts with another strong game Friday, as she tallied three goals and an assist for four points. Helm posted three points on two goals and a helper, while Claps was strong with two goals, two assists, three draw controls and two ground balls.

Chipman came off the bench to make four saves in relief, allowing just two goals in 35:35 minutes of action in net for the Jumbos. Grace Hammond had four draw controls for the Jumbos as well.

Adams led the Panthers (22-0) with two goals and three assists, and Maeve Lee and Skylar Lach with two goals apiece. Annie Spring also came in off the bench in goal for Middlebury to stop six shots.

Middlebury will take on the winner of Friday's other semifinal between Salisbury University and Wesleyan University.