WATERVILLE, Maine -- The third time was the charm for the ninth-ranked Middlebury College women's lacrosse team after taking a 9-3 victory over third-ranked Colby College in an NCAA Division III Tournament regional semifinal game at Bill Alfond Field on Saturday.

The Panthers will meet defending national champion Hamilton College in the regional final Sunday at 1:00 p.m. at Colby. The winner heads off to Salem, Virginia, next Saturday and Sunday for the NCAA Final Four. Hamilton, ranked fifth nationally, held on for an 8-7 win over Williams College in the other semifinal. Meanwhile, Colby finishes its greatest season in program history with a 16-2 record and a second straight New England Small College Athletic Conference title.

Middlebury (11-5) had fallen 10-9 in double overtime in the regular season and 17-12 in the NESCAC semifinal round to the Mules. The Panthers got six goals from sophomore Chase Delano (Greenwich, Conn.), including the first two goals of the game and the last two. Delano is now at 51 goals and 12 assists for 63 points this season.

Middlebury, now 37-10 all-time in NCAA play, is looking to get back to the NCAA Final Four after missing out last year. The Panthers had been among the top four teams in the tourney from 1994 to 2007.

The game appeared it would be high scoring after Delano scored unassisted just 1:13 into the game and made it 2-0 with a free-position goal with 27:22 to play.

Colby bounced back quickly when Becky Julian (South Windsor, Conn.) nailed a free-position shot of her own with 24:57 left and then assisted on Heather Nickerson's (Falmouth, Mass.) goal with 21:11 to halftime for a 2-2 tie.

The Panthers went ahead for good when Stephanie Gill (Hingham, Mass.) came from behind the net and tallied with 19:13 to play to start a 5-0 scoring run to intermission. Dana Heritage (Cheshire, Conn.) made it 4-2 with 18:42 remaining off a pass from Sally Ryan (Mountain Lakes, N.J.) and then Ryan assisted again on Delano's goal with 18:10 to play. In a span of 1:03, Middlebury turned a 2-2 tie into a 5-2 lead.

Ryan went hard to the goal after receiving a pass from Heritage and blasted home Middlebury's sixth goal with 11:33 to the break. Delano added her fourth goal with 6:49 left in the half from Heritage.

With a 7-2 lead at halftime, Middlebury slowed the tempo of the game down in the second half and neither team managed a goal for nearly 15 minutes. Colby got the lead down to 7-3 when Amy Campbell (North Andover, Mass.) drove the middle and rifled home a shot with 15:08 to play.

Delano sealed the victory with a nice goal coming from behind the net with 13:36 left and then added a free-position goal with 2:03 remaining.

Heritage and Ryan both finished with one goal and two assists for Middlebury, while goalie Blair Bowie (Washington, D.C.) stopped six shots.

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WATERVILLE, Maine -- The Middlebury women's lacrosse team advanced to the NCAA Regional finals with a 9-3 win at Colby. The Panthers will take on Hamilton in an NCAA Quarterfinal match-up at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday at Colby, with the winner advancing to the final four. Colby had previously defeated Middlebury twice this season, once in March and again last weekend in the NESCAC semifinals. The Mules end their season with a 16-2 mark, while the Panthers improve to 11-5.

Middlebury took a 2-0 lead early in the contest, behind a pair of goals from Chase Delano in the game's first 2:38, the second on a free position. Colby answered with a free position tally from Becky Julian, followed by an assist to Julian on a goal from Heather Nickerson at the 21:11 mark to knot the game at 2-2.

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2009-05-09