SALISBURY, Md. - The No. 7 Washington and Lee University women's lacrosse team will take on the 21st-ranked Captains of Christopher Newport University at 1:30 p.m. in the third round of the NCAA women's lacrosse tournament on Saturday, May 18.
The hosts, fifth-ranked Salisbury (15-3) will match up with No. 15 Babson College (17-2) at 10:30 a.m. The winner of the morning's game will take on the winner of W&L versus CNU on Sunday at 1:30 p.m., the regional finals.
At Sea Gull Stadium, the Generals (17-3) and Captains (14-6) will meet up for the second time this season after a 12-10 loss in Lexington on February 21.
Under the lights, CNU handed W&L its first of three losses this season, all by a two-goal differential. The Blue and White have not dropped a game since falling to No. 4 Tufts 18-16 in Boston on March 3.
The Captains advanced to the third round for the first time in program history after taking down the Catholic University of America,
9-6, in comeback fashion. Syd Guidi led CNU with four points and the game-sealing score in the 56th minute. In the cage Hadley Chadwick made 10 stops for the Captains.
The Generals will appear in the regional semifinals for the fifth consecutive season by way of a
17-7 win over Rhodes College last week on Watt Field. Six Generals recorded multiple goals and scoring was led by senior
Alex Petras with four scores and three helpers for seven points.
Tickets for Saturday's round of 16 contest is available online
here, or at the gate for $7 adults, $5 for senior citizens and $3 for students and children. If you cannot make it out to Salisbury you can follow along online with the
live stats and
video stream. To view the complete 2024 NCAA Division III Women's Lacrosse Tournament bracket, click
here.
W&L BY THE NUMBERS
The Blue and White are led by seven All-Region award-winners from the IWLCA including four First Team Chesapeake Region selections in
Hanna Bishop,
Walker McKnight,
Eugenie Rovegno and
Julia Thomson. Seniors
Allie Doyle,
Caroline Kranich and
Shannon Timoney were all selected as Second Team Chesapeake honorees.
The Generals have maintained a high-powered offense all season that has tallied 315 goals through 20 contests with a .469 shooting percentage and 109 assists off of 33.6 shots per game. The W&L attack is well-balanced with 11 players scoring double-digit points and 10 in goals alone.
As a defensive unit, the Generals have recorded 311 successful clears out of 348 opportunities for an impressive 89.4 percent success rate and a combined 220 caused turnovers. With one of the most competitive and toughest schedules in Division III, the back line allowed just 134 scores through the 20 contests, an average of 6.7 goals against and 18.4 shots per game. From the hashes, the Blue and White has limited opponents to 30-of-67 free position goals (44.8 percent).
CNU BY THE NUMBERS
The Captains are averaging 13.2 goals per game off of 25.6 shots and have outscored their opponents 264-183 this season. CNU's attack is also balanced between assisted scores and solo efforts, nearly split down the middle with 130 unassisted tallies.
Defensively the captains have recorded 219 caused turnovers with 310 ground balls and 264 draw controls. CNU has been successful on 316-of-368 clears for a 85.9 percent success rate. The Captains are allowing 21.8 shots per game and opponents are scoring 9.15 goals per game against CNU.
Kelsey Winters is the player to watch on CNU's offense with 93 points off of 24 goals and 69 assists. Defensively, Brookelyn Morrison leads the captains in draws with 85, caused turnovers (53) and is second in ground balls (45). Chadwick has 114 saves this season.
SALISBURY vs BABSON
Senior Camryn Pepper leads the Gulls in both assists and points with 33 assists, 28 goals and 61 points.
On the defensive end, SU ranks 17th in the nation in scoring defense, holding opponents to 7.83 goals per game and single-digit totals in 12-of-17 games. Natalie Held, the Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year has recorded a career-high in draw controls (69), ground balls (46) and caused turnovers (34) this season
The Beavers captured the program's second consecutive conference crown and 10th NEWMAC title since 2007. Lily Ives leads BC in both scores and points with 54 goals and 71 points.
Defensively Anna Costello has collected 50 ground balls and 54 caused turnovers. Goalie Kathleen Murphy has racked up 107 saves with a 7.44 goals against average.
Nestled in the mountains of Virginia, Washington and Lee University is a proud member of NCAA Division III and the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. Founded in 1749, W&L is the ninth-oldest college in the United States and a top-ranked liberal arts university. With over 500 student-athletes in 24 varsity sports, the Generals have celebrated over 265 conference championships. Learn more about the Blue and White by visiting www.generalssports.com or on social media at @WLUGenerals.
