NCAA Bracket

Release courtesy of Gettysburg Athletic Communications

THE FACTS
No. 6 Gettysburg (19-3) 16, No. 20 Denison (16-5) 13
What: NCAA Div. III women's lacrosse tournament quarterfinal
When: Sunday, May 18
Where: Lancaster, Pa.

THE SKINNY STORY
For the third time four years, Gettysburg will spend the last full week in May traveling down Interstate 81. The 2025 Bullets punched their ticket to the national semifinals and visit to Kerr Stadium on the campus of Roanoke College in Salem, Va., with a big third quarter on Sunday. Sixth-ranked Gettysburg used a run of five straight goals in that period to open up a 15-9 lead on No. 20 Denison en route to a 16-13 victory over the Big Red in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Div. III women's lacrosse championship tournament at Franklin & Marshall.

THE LEADERS
• Sophie Smith (Great Falls, Va./Langley) scored five goals to lead the Bullets into their 10th all-time national semifinal.
• Julia Daly (McLean, Va./Langley) and Michaela Kelly (Chatham, N.J./Chatham) added two goals and four assists each.

FOR THE FOES
• Mary Martinson led the Big Red with four goals and three ground balls.

THE REST OF THE STORY
• Gettysburg jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead when Sophie Smith scored off the first Michaela Kelly feed just 54 seconds into the game. A minute later, Emily Crane (Montclair, N.J./Montclair) finished a solo run. Mary Martinson and Grayson O'Marra got Denison even just under five minutes later before Smith put Gettysburg back in front with 7:06 on the clock. Kelly then found Lauren O'Connell (Winchester, Mass./Winchester) for a 4-2 lead just 16 seconds later. Sophie Davenport, however, started a three-goal Big Red run to turn the two-goal deficit into a one-goal edge with 3:37 showing. Julia Daly got the game even at 5-all in the final 12 seconds of the quarter.
• Martinson put Denison back in front with 10:20 to play in the second quarter but back-to-back Smith tallies just 42 seconds apart ignite a 4-0 burst to take a 9-6 lead. Kelly scored the next two, including an advantage goal from Sarah Scollin (Orefield, Pa./Springside Chestnut Hill Academy) and solo run with 5:47 remaining. Maddie Chase and Martinson each found the back of the net to close the deficit to one at the break.
• Nina Marra (Ridgewood, N.J./Ridgewood) converted an advantage opportunity that carried into the third quarter before Bridget Sheehy responded. A pair of advantage goals in a 39-second stretch from Crane and Grace Battle (Lynchburg, Va./Virginia Episcopal Academy) ignited the game-clinching run, stating with the Daly-to-Crane connection with 9:09 on the clock. Marra scored from Daly before Daly wrapped and finished. Then Kelly found Smith for her fifth, capping the five-goal explosion over just 2 minutes, 17 seconds. Chase halted the run with 2:31 to play in the quarter, closing the margin to 15-10.
• Maddie Passarello (West Chester, Pa./Unionville) finished the final of Daly's four helpers with 5:09 to play, virtually sealing the victory. Sydney Lavin, Davenport and Martinson each scored to make it 16-13 with 2:54 to play. Crane, however, won the final draw control of the game to keep possession away from the Big Red. Denison had one last chance but Scollin came up with a huge check defensively, picked up the ground ball and raced to the offense end where a Gettysburg timeout with 1:24 set up the opportunity for the Bullets to run out of the clock.

THE INSIDE STORY
• Gettysburg finished with a 33-27 edge in shots and 17-14 edge in draw controls.
• The Bullets made it back-to-back wins at Shadek Stadium after falling earlier this year on the same field.
• This is the 10th national semifinal appearance all-time for Gettysburg and sixth at Kerr Stadium in Salem. The Bullets are the only non-NESCAC team among the final four teams, joining Middlebury, Colby and Tufts at Roanoke.

NEXT UP
Gettysburg takes on No. 1 Tufts in the second national semifinal on Friday. Game time is 7 p.m.