Field Announced for 2008 Women's Lacrosse Championship

Middlebury Earns Top Seed, First Round Bye for Eighth Consecutive Year

HADLEY, Mass. - Seven-time defending champion Middlebury College has earned the top seed and a first round bye for this year’s NESCAC Women’s Lacrosse Championship. The Panthers will pursue their eighth conference title when they host the 2008 semifinals and championship on Saturday, May 3 and Sunday, May 4 at Peter Kohn Field in Middlebury, Vt. First round action for the seven-team tournament begins on Sunday, April 27 at Amherst, Trinity and Tufts at 12:00 p.m.

Top-seeded Middlebury (10-3, 8-1 NESCAC) closed out the 2008 conference slate in uncharacteristic fashion, losing 15-7 at Tufts Saturday afternoon. The setback not only snapped a seven game winning streak, it marked the first regular season loss for the Panthers to a NESCAC foe since the spring of 2000 along with the first league loss since the inception of tournament play in 2001. Prior to Saturday’s game, Middlebury had some close calls in conference play, edging Williams 13-10 on April 2 and getting past Trinity 13-11 on April 12. Although the loss ruined the Panthers shot at a remarkable eighth-straight unbeaten conference mark, the defending champs were not in danger of losing out on the number-one seed on Saturday, as Middlebury guaranteed itself another first place finish a week before the end of the season by rolling past Wesleyan 19-6 on April 19. The Panthers have won every NESCAC Women’s Lacrosse Championship, a total of seven titles.

After missing out on a first round home game for the first time in championship history last spring, second-seeded Amherst (12-2, 7-2 NESCAC) regained the advantage this year with a solid performance in conference play. The Jeffs only two losses so far this season have come against NESCAC foes, 14-3 at Middlebury on April 5 and a 12-7 loss at Colby to close out the regular season. Amherst will face a familiar opponent on Sunday in the form of seventh-seeded Wesleyan (7-8, 3-6 NESCAC), as the two teams have met in the first round on three previous occasions, including each of the last two years. Wesleyan claimed the last spot in this year’s championship thanks to a 14-12 victory over Bates on Saturday that also gave the Cardinals the head-to-head tie-breaker over the Bobcats, as both teams finished 3-6 in league play. The Jeffs own a 3-0 playoff record over the Cardinals, including last year’s 13-5 win as the sixth seed to advance to the semifinals for the seventh-straight year. Since falling to Wesleyan during the 1994 season, Amherst has gone on to win 17-straight meetings with the Cardinals, the most recent occurring on March 9 in a 9-8 overtime victory in Middletown, Conn.

Third-seeded Trinity (9-5, 6-3 NESCAC) finished the regular season on Saturday at home with a 17-13 victory over fellow Constitution State resident Connecticut College. The Bantams knew well before their final regular season match that they would be home in the first round, but did not know that they would be taking on the sixth-seeded Polar Bears of Bowdoin (9-6, 4-5 NESCAC) until the end of action on Saturday afternoon. Bowdoin snapped a two-game losing streak with a thrilling 11-10 win against Williams, and combined with Wesleyan’s 14-12 decision over Bates the Polar Bears were able to claim the sixth seed. The lone meeting between the Bantams and the Polar Bears this season went to Trinity by a 14-10 score on April 5 in Brunswick, Maine. Sunday’s opening round showdown will be the first for the two squads in tournament history. Trinity, which hosted a first round game for the first time ever a year ago, has never reached the NESCAC semifinals, suffering a heartbreaking 14-13 overtime loss to Williams last year after leading for most of the game. Bowdoin, meanwhile, missed out on the semifinals in 2007 for the first time in three years, falling to rival Colby 10-9 in the first round.

The final contest pits fourth-seed Tufts (10-4, 5-4 NESCAC) against fifth-seed Colby (9-5, 5-4 NESCAC). Both the Jumbos and the Mules headed into the final weekend of the regular season battling for the last first round home game with identical 4-4 conference records, and Tufts held the tie-breaker over Colby by winning the only meeting this season 15-14 on April 5. Colby gained a leg up early on Saturday afternoon with the Mules’ 12-7 victory against Amherst, however Tufts responded with a big 15-7 win of its own over Middlebury, giving the Jumbos home field advantage for the first time in playoff history. Both of these teams have had a strong final month of competition. The Jumbos head into Sunday’s tilt 7-1 so far in April, the lone loss coming at Amherst on Tuesday (14-7), while the Mules are 5-2 this month, going 4-1 over their last five with the only setback an 11-10 overtime loss to Bowdoin on April 16. Sunday’s meeting will be the second-ever in tournament play, as Colby edged Tufts 14-13 in the four-five game during the inaugural 2001 championship. Last year, the Mules made it to the championship game for the first time after having not reached the semifinals since 2003, while the Jumbos have never advanced out of the first round in their previous four tournament appearances.

2008 NESCAC WOMEN’S LACROSSE CHAMPIONSHIP
First Round - Sunday, April 27 at Higher Seeds
No. 7 Wesleyan at No. 2 Amherst - 12:00 p.m.
No. 6 Bowdoin at No. 3 Trinity - 12:00 p.m.
No. 5 Colby at No. 4 Tufts - 12:00 p.m.

Semifinals - Saturday, May 3 at Middlebury
No. 1 Middlebury vs. lowest remaining seed - 12:00 p.m.
Remaining first round winners - 2:30 p.m.

Championship - Sunday, May 4 at Middlebury
Semifinal winners - 12:00 p.m.