Middlebury women’s lacrosse rolls to Division 3 title with win over Gettysburg; Tufts men’s lacrosse defeated by Salisbury in Division 3 title game

The Middlebury women’s lacrosse team won the program’s ninth Division 3 national championship Sunday, besting Gettysburg, 17-9, in Salem, Va. Sophomore Hope Shue scored seven goals in the contest for Middlebury, who finished with a program-record for wins and a perfect 23-0 mark.

Middlebury led from start to finish, as Shue scored less than a minute into the action, and the Panthers built leads of 7-1 and 8-3 in the early going. Middlebury cruised throughout the second half, eventually leading by as many as 10 (16-6) when Shue — who was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, connected for her seventh goal of the game.

With seven goals, Shue broke the Middlebury single-season record for tallies in a season with 83. This was the fifth time this year that Shue has scored seven times in a single game. The Panthers have now won 30 consecutive games on the road dating back to last year.

In other action, Salisbury rolled to a 17-12 win over Tufts Sunday in the men’s lacrosse Division 3 national championship game at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

The Seagulls, who scored six first-quarter goals to take a lead they wouldn’t relinquish, finished 22-1. Brice Bromwell had four goals to lead Salisbury, which won the Division 3 men’s lacrosse title for the 13th time in school history.

Meanwhile, Kurt Bruun scored five goals and added an assist for the Jumbos, who saw their perfect season come to an end, finishing at 22-1.

Salisbury got off to an excellent start, as Bromwell scored just more than a minute into the game. Bromwell added another first-quarter tally, leading the early attack for the Seagulls, who took a 6-0 lead after one.

Tufts got on the board early in the second quarter when Charlie Tagliaferri delivered with his 41st goal of the season with 14:10 left in the half. Bruun added three more goals to make it 10-4 heading into halftime.

The Jumbos pushed the Seagulls in the third, as Tagliaferri, Bruun, Ben Frisoli, Mason Kohn, and Jack Boyden scored for Tufts to cut the lead to 11-9.

But that’s as close as the Jumbos would get. Salisbury got a pair of key fourth-quarter goals from Cross Ferrara, the last of which gave him a hat trick. Ferrara, Jude Brown, and Luke Nestor all finished with three goals for Salisbury.