MIDDLEBURY...Killing them softly...and out loud!

[LarryGamLax]

The Middlebury Panthers are a vicious lot. They spotted Pomona-Pitzer a 1-0 lead on Sunday...and then ran off 16 unanswered goals to finish out the game and advance to their 4th straight Final Four. Pomona-Pitzer is a solid team, who had soundly defeated Ithaca College, 17-8, the day before. PP is a program that is working its way up the National D3 rankings. They are led by Sarah Queener, former All-American player at Yale University. Sarah has led this program for 12 years and is doing a wonderful job.

PP would be a cool story, but they ran into one of the most successful programs in Lacrosse. Middlebury is simply a team of killers. They play in the NESCAC, which is the best athletic conference in D3. The Panthers have won 3 of the last 4 NESCAC Championships. Even stronger, they have won back-to-back National Championships (22,23) and are in contention for possibly their third straight. That hasn't been done since TCNJ did it in 1994-96.
That would be a great accomplishment for Head Coach Kate Livesay and her team. That would be her 6th title (She has won 4 at MC, 1 at Trinity) in 12 years. Wow!

If you want to see a High level, High Quality team play this coming weekend, check out Middlebury. You will not be disappointed.

[rollwave]

Yeah, it's kind of wild how much better Middlebury has been than the rest of D3 wlax since like 2019. They also seem poised to continue their run for at least the next couple years with how many underclassmen they have contributing. I can't think of many college sports where there's such a gap between the #1 program and everyone else.

They aren't unbeatable (played close with both Wes and Tufts this year), but I don't see anyone having much of a chance on good day from Midd.

[Bartman]

Agree Middlebury has earned their #1 and should show it this weekend . The WS Herons made quick work of both Gettysburg and Colby because they are peaking and playing as a team on offense and did not rely solely on Montgomery/Daniels for scoring . As a follower mostly of men's lacrosse I was super impressed with their toughness both physical and mental. If they get past Salisbury, the Herons should make for a worthy opponent and perhaps fly over the claws of the killer Panthers. Should be fun.

[LarryGamLax]

Yeah, it's kind of wild how much better Middlebury has been than the rest of D3 wlax since like 2019. They also seem poised to continue their run for at least the next couple years with how many underclassmen they have contributing. I can't think of many college sports where there's such a gap between the #1 program and everyone else.

They aren't unbeatable (played close with both Wes and Tufts this year), but I don't see anyone having much of a chance on good day from Midd.

They didn't play well against either Wesleyan, Tufts or Williams...and yet they still won. And by the way, did you see what happened in the 2nd Wesleyan game for the NESCAC Title? After a tight, tied game after 3 quarters, MC took their game to another level by putting a zero on WU and scoring 6 of their own to close the game out. They are all about getting it done.

[rollwave]

To be fair, I thought Wesleyan's struggles on offense were the bigger story of the NESCAC final. Middlebury obviously has a great defense, but Wes really didn't make them work at all - they looked slow and tired pretty much the whole game. Conversely, while Midd only scored 5 in the 1st 3 quarters, they had a ton of long possessions and were taking the Wes D to the limit the entire game, and eventually the flood gates just opened up.

I thought the Midd offense vs. Wes defense (in both the regular season and NESCAC final) was the best D3 lax I've seen this year. Midd's offense is just something else though.

[westcoastlax]

Yeah, it's kind of wild how much better Middlebury has been than the rest of D3 wlax since like 2019. They also seem poised to continue their run for at least the next couple years with how many underclassmen they have contributing. I can't think of many college sports where there's such a gap between the #1 program and everyone else.

They aren't unbeatable (played close with both Wes and Tufts this year), but I don't see anyone having much of a chance on good day from Midd.

Middlebury's offense is better this year. They share the ball more and have more people who can score. Their defense is not as aggressive as last year's but more fundamentally sound. They have improved on defense since making a change at goalie.

They are going to be tough to beat for a while. The bench is loaded.

[Seacoaster(1)]

Yeah, it's kind of wild how much better Middlebury has been than the rest of D3 wlax since like 2019. They also seem poised to continue their run for at least the next couple years with how many underclassmen they have contributing. I can't think of many college sports where there's such a gap between the #1 program and everyone else.

They aren't unbeatable (played close with both Wes and Tufts this year), but I don't see anyone having much of a chance on good day from Midd.

Middlebury's offense is better this year. They share the ball more and have more people who can score. Their defense is not as aggressive as last year's but more fundamentally sound. They have improved on defense since making a change at goalie.

They are going to be tough to beat for a while. The bench is loaded.

Yeah, agreed on the offense. They just seem harder to game plan. Nothing against Early, who was a juggernaut, but this year's edition seems to share the ball better. Shue is really a terrific player (75 goals), but she is accompanied by Rowley (73 goals), Adams (30), Motley (35 ), Coughlin (23), and Ellinghaus (21) -- and others.

Going to be very tough to beat.

This is the result of culture, smarts and having the best head coach maybe in the game.

[westcoastlax]

Yeah, I agreed on the offense. They just seem harder to game-plan. Nothing against Early, who was a juggernaut, but this year's edition seems to share the ball better.

Ten different players scored today in the game against F&M. They have many different ways to beat you.

92-2 and playing for their 4th straight NCAA title. (did not play Covid years)

[Seacoaster(1)]

Fourth straight in an absolutely dominating fashion. Congrats Panthers.

[laxrex]

Has a national championship game ever gone to running time before? I expected a win by Middlebury, but I didn’t expect this. WOW.

[LaxPundit07]

Middlebury is on another level. Congrats to them! 22-0?!

[westcoastlax]

Four straight National Championships (93-2 over those years)

They are very deep, and I expect them to be even better next year. Their offense has many returning weapons, and they lose very little on defense.

What stood out to me this year over previous years was their use of team speed in transition. This is a significant change and continues to make them very difficult to beat.

[lovelax]

Agree on the team speed for ALL positions. The D could clear on its own. However, in both games Midd had difficulty turning those fast -break chances into goals due to errors and bad decisions. I guess they have something to work on for 2025!

in 2022, 75% of Midd's players were underclassmen who had never played a college lacrosse game. This class had to be poised as they were thrown right into the mix of Nescac play and did OK....22-1 and national Champs! The core of the teams (in terms of numbers/starters) since 2022 was the class of 2025 who come back for another year! The bridge from 2019 to 2022 was a key to the foundation of this program and a credit to the coaching staff. Every year this team just seems to get better and new faces step up. Its hard not to pick them for 2025. The team does not have a "bad game" or "trap game" and only focuses on the "next game". Great mindset and culture there.

Now onto summer recruiting for these schools!