January 6, 2025 | composed by STEVE ULRICH

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

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Headlines
1. NCAA Bracket Expansion
2. 27 Men’s Conference Automatic Qualifiers
3. 31 Women’s Conference Automatic Qualifiers
4. York’s Muston Not Afraid of a Challenge
5. Three for DIII in Lax Hall of Fame

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1. NCAA Championship Bracket Expansion

A new year means larger brackets for the Division III men’s and women’s lacrosse championships.

The men’s bracket increases by two teams from 38 to 40, allowing two more at-large or Pool C berths to be awarded.

The women’s field also sees an increase in the tournament size from 46 to 47, allowing for one additional Pool C bid.

2. The 2025 Men’s Championship

The NCAA Division III Championships Committee has approved 27 conferences for automatic qualification to the 2025 men’s lacrosse championship:

Atlantic East; Centennial; Coastal Lacrosse: CCIW; Conference of New England; Empire 8; GNAC; Heartland; Landmark; Liberty; Little East; MIAA; MAC Commonwealth; MAC Freedom; NESCAC; NEWMAC; NAC; NCAC; NACC; OAC; ODAC; Presidents; Skyline; SAA; SUNYAC; United East; and USA South.

» Anticipated Field Size. The 2025 men’s championship field is anticipated to include 40 teams - 27 receiving Pool A berths or automatic qualification as conference champions and 13 receiving Pool C slots, commonly known as at-large berths.

» Men’s Lacrosse Committee. The head coach at Moravian - Dave Carty - was appointed chair of the men’s lacrosse committee. Other members include Jim Lyons, AD at Russell Sage and Peter Rosaschi, head coach at Franciscan. Two other members remain to be selected.

» Championship Date/Site. The 2025 DIII men’s final will be held at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., on Sunday, May 25.

3. The 2025 Women’s Championship

The NCAA Division III Championships Committee has approved 31 conferences for automatic qualification to the 2025 women’s lacrosse championship:

Atlantic East; Centennial; CCIW; Conference of New England; Empire 8; GNAC; Heartland; Landmark; Liberty; Little East; MASCAC; Michigan; MAC Commonwealth; MAC Freedom; Midwest; NESCAC; NEWMAC; New Jersey; NAC; NCAC; NACC; Northwest; Ohio; ODAC; Presidents; Skyline; SAA; SCIAC; SUNYAC; United East ; and USA South.

» Anticipated Field Size. The 2025 women’s championship field is anticipated to include 47 teams - 31 receiving Pool A berths or automatic qualification as conference champions, 1 team receiving a Pool B bid, given to a deserving team from a non-AQ conference, and 15 receiving Pool C slots, commonly known as at-large berths.

» Women’s Lacrosse Committee. The committee selected Jeff Siegel, associate AD at Rochester Institute of Technology to continue as chair in 2024-25. Other members of the committee include Erica Adams, head coach at Bridgewater State, Kate Livesay, head coach at Middlebury, Brittney Morris, head coach at St. Mary’s (Md.), Caitlin Moore, associate AD/SWA at Mary Washington, and Michael Schulist, AD at Carroll.

» Championship Date/Site. The 2025 DIII women’s semifinals and final will be held at Kerr Stadium in Salem, Va., on May 23 and 25.

“You can see it by glancing at the York College women’s lacrosse schedule she lines up each spring as the school’s head coach.

On-field challenges are one thing.

Invisible challenges are another.”

» Field Awareness. “That’s what Muston faced for several years with very few people knowing about it. Routine bloodwork in 2017 led to visiting a specialist and then back to Maryland to consult with doctors at Johns Hopkins. They discovered that Muston had stage four chronic kidney disease and that her kidneys were only functioning at about 30-percent capacity. She had no obvious symptoms — other than increased fatigue — and there wasn’t much she could do at the time.”

» Reality Check. “The only cure was a new kidney. According to the National Kidney Foundation, of the 123,000 Americans currently waiting for a lifesaving organ transplant, more than 101,000 need a new kidney. Only 17,000 people receive one each year.”

» The Call. “Everything changed late one Friday night this past February. York had its first scrimmage the next day. Muston had her phone silenced and face down while watching the movie and missed a call from the transplant center saying they had a kidney available from a deceased donor. “Basically, when you get that call, you have 15 minutes to take the kidney or not because they’re calling other people and lining other people up in case the first, second or third person doesn’t take the offering,” Muston said. “There’s a rating system where they match your kidneys and this was a six out of a six, which is like a unicorn. A six out of six on a deceased kidney match is basically like getting a living donor match.”

» The Final Word. “Muston’s body continues to heal, which has her extra excited for the 2025 season.“How can I be selfless to someone else?” she said. “Am I? Maybe I’m not and I need to do a better job. This was very humbling. I’m very thankful and blessed that as this was happening, I really saw the human spirit in those times. There are so many good people out there.”

» Read More

5. Three With DIII Connections to Be Inducted Into Lacrosse Hall of Fame

courtesy USA Lacrosse

The National Lacrosse Hall of Fame will add eight new inductees as the members of the Class of 2024 on Saturday night.

Three have DIII roots, including Carol Cantele, Betsy Meng Ramsey, and Vin LoBello (posthumous).

» Continue Reading

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