FEBRUARY 12, 2025 | composed by STEVE ULRICH

Welcome to D3 Lacrosse, devoted to NCAA Division III men’s and women’s lacrosse

🥍 Good Wednesday Morning, DIII Laxers.

Headlines
🥍 Panthers Top First IWLCA Poll
🗓️ Scoreboard / Schedule
🟨 Presidents Athletic Conference (M) Preview
🟦 Old Dominion Athletic Conference (W) Preview
📊 More Preseason Conference Polls

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TOP STORY
1. Middlebury Tops IWLCA Preseason Poll

“The 2025 women’s lacrosse season has officially begun, and the first IWLCA Division III Coaches Poll of the year has ranked Middlebury at No. 1. The defending champions earned the unanimous top spot and will kick off their 2025 campaign with a NESCAC matchup against Amherst College on March 1. The Panthers have claimed the last three National Championships.

Salisbury claims the No. 2 slot after last year’s NCAA Final’s appearance. The Sea Gulls have notched an 8-6 win over Stevenson to open the season and will take on Catholic this Saturday, Feb. 15 at home.

Tufts is ranked No. 3 and will kick off its season on March 1 against Connecticut College, with Franklin & Marshall and William Smith following in the top five, respectively.”

» The Top 10. 1-Middlebury, 2-Salisbury, 3-Tufts, 4-Franklin & Marshall, 5-William Smith, 6-Washington and Lee, 7-Colby, 8-Wesleyan, 9-Gettysburg, 10-Pomona-Pitzer.

» Conference Call. NESCAC (7), C2C (2), Centennial (2), Liberty (2), NEWMAC (2), ODAC (2), Independent (1), Landmark (1), MAC Commonwealth (1), MAC Freedom (1), NJAC (1), North Coast (1), SCIAC (1), WIAC (1)

» Complete Top 25

AROUND THE NATION
2. The Scoreboard

PAC PREVIEW (M)
3. Can Grove City Make It Six Straight?

Grove City extended its Presidents Athletic Conference championship win streak to five with a resounding 27-9 victory over Allegheny.

The Wolverines received a first-round bye in the NCAA tournament but were eliminated in round two by Bowdoin, 23-9.

The conference has two new head coaches in the fold in Bethany’s Harold Pallone III and W&J’s Jacob Bow.

Returning Statistical Leaders

Allegheny (10-7, 7-1). JP Rakis (Sr, 43-23-70), Jack Cushwa (Sr, 29-6-35)
Goalie: Garin Stearns (Jr, 11.61 / 54.5%)
Bethany (6-11, 1-7). Cameron Russo (Sr, 27-35-62), Tyler Britton (Sr, 45-13-58)
Goalie: Christian Nestor (Sr, 15.51 / 48.9%)
Chatham (9-8, 4-4). Tanner Marsh (So, 43-23-66), Brady Rigdon (23-29-52)
Goalie: Brett Zaruba (Jr, 10.80 / 54.2%)
Franciscan (10-7, 3-5). Joseph James (So, 76-49-125), Nathaniel Carter (Jr, 28-13-41)
Goalie: N/A
Grove City (15-5, 8-0). Matt Blythe (Sr, 57-15-72), Zachary Hougan (Sr, 33-26-59)
Goalie: Danny Stone (Grad, 10.28 / 56.2%)
Saint Vincent (8-9, 6-2). Liam McCall (Jr, 22-15-37), Carter Haid (Grad, 24-9-33)
Goalie: Garrett Ritts (Jr, 11.53 / 49.1%)
Thiel (3-11, 0-8). Chase Lawler (Sr, 40-12-52), Zach Melin (Sr, 19-7-26)
Goalie: Ethan Narby (So, 17.49 / 43.1%)
Washington & Jefferson (3-11, 2-6). Paul Shook (Sr, 26-14-40), Zach Mey
(Grad, 13-7-20) | Goalie: Colton Powers (Jr, 13.98 / 27.8%)
Westminster (10-8, 5-3). Gavin Jones (Sr, 58-25-83), Jimmy Sentz (Grad, 34-22-56)
Goalie: Jorden Tate (Jr, 11.00 / 47.3%)

🥍 D3Lacrosse’s Preseason All-PAC
A-JP Rakis (Jr, Allegheny); Joseph James (So, Franciscan); Matt Blythe (Sr, Grove City). M-Zachary Hougan (Sr, Grove City); Gavin Jones (Sr, Westminster); Jacob Lubawy (Jr, Chatham). D-Sam Stevenson (Jr, Grove City); Thomas Curtin (Sr, Chatham); Zach Furry (Sr, Grove City). LSM-Konrad Homiak (Sr, Allegheny). SSDM-Trey Zabroski (Sr, Grove City); FO-Colton Lehberg (Jr, Grove City). GK-Danny Stone (Grad, Grove City).

ODAC PREVIEW (W)
4. W&L Looks to Keep Streaks Alive in ‘25

Washington and Lee won its 14th consecutive Old Dominion Athletic Conference championship with an 11-10 triumph against Roanoke.

The Generals enter the 2025 season with a 108-game win streak against ODAC teams, dating to a 2013 loss to Guilford.

For the first time in conference history, three teams were selected for the NCAA tournament. Shenandoah defeated SUNY Canton in the opening round, before being eliminated by Ithaca. Roanoke made it one round further after wins over Hope and Capital. But the Maroons’ run ended with a 14-11 loss at F&M in the round of 16. W&L took out Rhodes and Christopher Newport but was ousted one round shy of the Final Four by Salisbury.

Two new coaches join the ODAC this season as Hannah Mae Ayers takes over at Averett and Taylor Cline gets the reins at Guilford.

Averett (4-10, 3-6). Faith Bowlin (Sr, 48-11-59), Cayden Holdsworth (So, 10-6-16)
Goalie: Kylie McWhorter (So, 11.26 / 42.1%)
Bridgewater (9-9, 5-4). Paige Mayers (So, 32-7-39), Jenna Entsminger (Sr, 21-5-26)
Goalie: Rachael Robinson (Sr, 13.27 / 40.2%)
Eastern Mennonite (3-11, 1-8). Courtney Crawford (Sr, 27-10-37), Amber Bonds
(Sr, 16-3-19) | Goalie: Cristal Narciso (Sr, 16.69 / 34.2%)
Ferrum (10-7, 4-5). Micaiyah Dickerson (So, 27-17-44), Caroline Moore (So, 22-8-30)
Goalie: N/A
Guilford (5-10, 2-7). Maggie Hartnett (Grad, 36-35-71), Riley Gravley (So, 21-6-27)
Goalie: N/A
Lynchburg (10-8, 6-3). Sydney Dumas (Jr, 52-18-70), Neely Morris (Jr, 38-10-48)
Goalie: N/A
Randolph (2-6, 0-9). Mackenzie Woodson (Jr, 13-4-17), Emille Taduran (So, 5-1-6)
Goalie: Mireya Norville (So, 16.25 / 39.0%)
Randolph-Macon (14-6, 6-3). Evie McNeally (Sr, 56-18-74), Lilly Fowler (Jr, 45-25-70)
Goalie: N/A
Roanoke (17-5, 8-1). Grace Koutouzis (Sr, 53-55-108); Maddie McDonald (So, 33-6-39)
Goalie: Amber Stallings (Sr, 4.76 / 26.3%)
Shenandoah (15-5, 7-2). Ainsley Buckner (Grad, 57-32-89), Amy Bell (Sr, 36-6-42)
Goalie: Madison Perry (Jr, 9.46 / 46.5%)
Sweet Briar (3-10, 0-3). Valen Foster (Sr, 24-4-28), Trista Cleaves (Sr, 20-6-26)
Goalie: Lizzie Mehl (So, 9.96 / 44.6%)
Virginia Wesleyan (4-12, 3-6). Madison Pfister (Sr, 31-3-34), Gabriella Watton
(Jr, 5-9-14) | Goalie: Melissa Dolt (So, 19.14 / 22.2%)
Washington and Lee (18-4, 9-0). Sophie Edwards (Jr, 33-8-41), Claire Horner
(Sr, 16-7-23) | Goalie: Iman Haddad (Jr, 1.33 / 80.0%)

🥍 D3Lacrosse Preseason All-ODAC
A-Evie McNeally (Sr, Randolph-Macon); Grace Koutouzis (Sr, Roanoke); Ainsley Buckner (Grad, Shenandoah); Sydney Dumas (Jr, Lynchburg); Neely Morris (Jr, Lynchburg); Lilly Fowler (Jr, Randolph-Macon).

M-Taylor Mittelstadter (Sr, Randolph-Macon); Cat Caples (Sr, Washington and Lee); Emma Moxham (Jr, Randolph-Macon); Sydney Harrison (Sr, Roanoke).
D-Meredith Bornholdt (Sr, Lynchburg); Juliana Fohner (Sr, Shenandoah); Talia Maria (So, Shenandoah); Caitlyn Lepkowski (Sr, Shenandoah). GK-Madison Perry (Jr, Shenandoah).

CONFERENCES
5. Preseason Polls

It’s conference preseason poll time. That time where some coaches put some thought into making their annual selections, while others opt to list teams in their 2024 order of standing.

Nonetheless, we continue to share with our readers.

• Centennial (M). "Three-time defending champion Dickinson is once again the choice atop the 2025 Centennial Conference Men's Lacrosse Preseason Poll. The Red Devils secured seven first-place votes and 63 points, while Gettysburg grabbed the other two first-place votes.”

• Landmark (M). “Scranton enters the 2025 season as the favorite to retain its Landmark Conference Men's Lacrosse Championship. The Royals topped the rankings with 79 points and seven first-place votes. Susquehanna follows in second, whle Elizabethtown sits in third.”

• Landmark (W). "The University of Scranton enters the 2025 season as the favorite to defend its Landmark Conference title, topping the preseason poll with 80 points and eight first-place votes. Catholic sits at No. 2 while Susquehanna rounds out the top three."

• NACC (M). “Three-time defending champion Aurora University has been selected as the favorite to capture the 2025 Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) men's lacrosse title.”

• NCAC (W). “Denison, in pursuit of its 24th NCAC title, secured the top spot in the preseason coaches’ poll with 49 points and all seven first-place votes. Kenyon followed in second with 40 points, while Ohio Wesleyan landed in third with 36 points.”

• ODAC (W). "Washington and Lee University has won every ODAC women's lacrosse title since 2010. The Generals open the season as the favorite of the coaches to lift a 15th straight league trophy as the headliners of the 2025 ODAC Women's Lacrosse Preseason Poll.”

NEWS YOU CAN USE
6. Lightning Round ⚡️ 

🗞️ News. “The share of four-year colleges that use legacy admissions practices has fallen by roughly half since 2015, from 49% then to 24% by 2025, according to a study from the center-left nonprofit Education Reform Now.”

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