GAMBIER, Ohio – Kenyon College is primed to represent the best out of the North Coast Athletic Conference at the 2013 Division III Women's Lacrosse Tournament, beginning its run against the Adrian College Bulldogs on Wednesday evening. Two very like teams featuring high-octane offenses and stingy defenses will take the field and battle for the right to continue their national tournament run. The Ladies and Bulldogs will engage in the first draw at 7 p.m. from Performance Stadium on Adrian's campus.
Kenyon is one of just 32 teams to make the NCAA Tournament. The Ladies are 13-2 and earned their automatic spot in the NCAA bracket with Saturday's 14-9 win over Wooster. The Ladies, who are riding a program record nine-game win streak, will be making their second appearance in the NCAA Tournament. In 2010, the Kenyon women upended Wooster in the NCAA first round to become the first-ever NCAC program to win a national tournament contest.
Host Adrian owns a 16-2 record this season and, like Kenyon, earned an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament by winning its conference tournament. The Bulldogs took the first-ever Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Tournament title by defeating visiting Alma College 17-6. The win was the tenth straight for Adrian. Their two losses this season came to nationally-ranked Christopher Newport University and to Denison University, a team Kenyon defeated twice this season.
The Ladies' magical season has been fueled by a strong mix of first-year and veteran talent. Senior Leak Sack, who has toppled single-season and career marks for points and assists in the Kenyon and NCAC record books, has served as the visionary of the field with her conference-high 71 assists. Attackers Emily Nichols, Alex Bair, and Jane Symmes continue to power the Ladies' offense toward its dominance over their opponents. The trio has been troublesome for opponent's defenses, combining for a total 143 goals to account for 60 percent of Kenyon's scoring. Nichols, a senior, leads the team with 56 goals while her freshman counterpart has posted 43 goals in her inaugural season.
The Bulldogs possess two 100-point scorers that led the way for an offense that matches Kenyon's in firepower. Adrian averages 16.30 goals per game that runs through the duo of Stacey Brinson and Olivia Duncan. Brinson rests atop the nation's top-20 in multiple offensive categories that funnel through her 111 points and 76 assists on the year, leading to her being named MIAA Offensive Player of the Year. She is also one of five Bulldogs with 30 or more goals. Her teammate, Duncan, has scored a team and MIAAT-best 80 goals and was 22nd in the nation for goals scored per the April 28 NCAA statistics report. Adrian's also owns a stout defense, limiting opponents to 6.23 goals per contest on 15.9 shots per match.
With two high-powered offenses facing off against one another, Wednesday's battle very well may come down to goaltending as the two netminders plugging the posts are ranked at the top of their respective conferences and have playing well as of late. The Bulldogs are anchored by freshman goalkeeper Maddie McDonald who tallied 106 saves this season, however, she has not had a single-game save percentage greater than .500 since putting up three straight to open the season. Conversely, Kenyon's Meredith Bentsen has seen her goals against average steadily decline as the year progressed while her save percentages have been north of 50 percent in each of her last four matches. She has made double-digit saves in three of her last four games, leading the Ladies to victory in all four.
The first-round game will be played Wednesday, May 8 at 7 p.m. The winner of the first-round game will move on to play the winner of the game between SUNY Cortland (18-1) and Keuka College (12-3). Live stats and video streaming will be provided.
The complete NCAA Division III Tournament bracket can be viewed here.
