Women's Lacrosse | 5/9/2026 4:03:00 PM
MIDDLEBURY, VT – The St. John Fisher women's lacrosse team dominated the second and third quarters to get past Western Connecticut State 14-7 in the first round of the NCAA Division III Tournament on Saturday afternoon at Middlebury College's Peter Kohn Field. The Cardinals (16-4) will face host Middlebury, ranked No. 1 in the country and unbeaten at 18-0, in the second round of the tournament on Sunday. The Panthers have won five of the last six national championships, including four in a row.
St. John Fisher has now won at least one game in the NCAA Tournament in each of the last four seasons and in six of the last seven dating back to 2019.
The Cardinals outscored WestConn (15-4) 11-3 over the second and third quarters. Senior attacker Dharma Makarowsky, who amassed a team-high five points, scored all three of her goals and tallied one of her two assists for the game in that stretch. Junior attacker Chelsea Lopata, who paced Fisher with four goals, also found the back of the net three times during the decisive run.
Two other Cardinals – junior attacker Ellie Leisen and senior midfielder Kaley Griffin – had multi-point performances. Leisen finished with four points on three goals and an assist, while Griffin scored twice.
Senior attacker Megan McGrath and senior defender Maddie Lowney each scored once. Lowney also recorded a team-high six draw controls and a ground ball.
Junior Maggie Cross made nine saves, tied for the fourth most by a Fisher goalkeeper in an NCAA Tournament game.
Madison Ratchford accounted for five of the Wolves' seven goals. Isabella Pota had the other two.
How It Happened
Perhaps an understatement, offense was at a premium in the opening quarter, which ended with the teams tied at two. St. John Fisher committed five turnovers and placed five shots on goal, while WestConn had six giveaways and managed just three shots on target.
Leisen scored the game's first goal less than a minute in, and WestConn got on the board about four minutes later on Ratchford's unassisted tally. The score remained 1-1 until Ratchford struck again with 2:50 left in the quarter, but the Wolves' lead lasted all of 43 seconds as Griffin found the back of the net off a feed from Makarowsky to pull Fisher even at 2:07.
The scoring picked up in quite a hurry in the second quarter, during which the Cardinals outscored the Wolves 7-3 to take command.
After Ratcford put WestConn up 3-2 with her third tally of the day, St. John Fisher went on a 4-0 surge on goals from McGrath, Lopata, Griffin and Makarowsky to take a 6-3 lead. Ratchford scored again to make it 6-4 with just under six minutes left in the half, but Fisher quickly snapped off two more goals. Lopata made it 7-4 at 5:02, and Makarowsky followed less than two minutes later to give the Cardinals an 8-4 advantage.
St. John Fisher and WestConn each scored in the final minute of the second quarter. Isabella Pota scored for the Wolves with 46 seconds left, and Makarowsky answered with 25 seconds remaining to push the Cardinals' advantage back to four, 9-5.
Any chance the Wolves had at staging a comeback evaporated in the third quarter as the Cardinals tacked on four more tallies and held their opponent scoreless. Leisen accounted for two of St. John Fisher's goals in the frame, while Lowney and Lopata found the back of the net once apiece. On the other end, Cross stopped all four of the shots WestConn fired her way.
Lopata buried her fourth goal of the game on a free-position shot midway through the fourth quarter, giving the Cardinals their largest advantage of the day at 14-5. WestConn added a pair of insignificant tallies late.
Game Notes
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The Cardinals improved to 13-15 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
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The victory marked head coach Marykate Edmunds' third career NCAA Tournament victory. She won two NCAA Tournament games during her four seasons as SUNY Geneseo's head coach.
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The Cardinals surpassed 15 wins for the second consecutive season and seventh time in program history.
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Lopata recorded her sixth game this season with four goals.
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Makarowsky recorded her 11th game this season with four points or more.
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Junior defender Leah Hilton caused a team-high three turnovers.
Up Next
Sunday's contest will mark the third meeting between St. John Fisher and Middlebury. Middlebury beat Fisher 12-9 in the 2016 NCAA Tournament and 18-5 in the 2024 NCAA Tournament.