MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – The No. 2 Wesleyan women's lacrosse team is set to appear in its first-ever NCAA National Championship game as the Cardinals will take on No. 1 Middlebury in Rochester, New York on Sunday at 3:00 PM at Judson Stadium on the campus of RIT. The Cardinals are coming off a 5-4 win over No. 3 Salisbury in the NCAA Semifinal round on Friday, in what was the team's second-ever National Semifinal appearance.
 
Tournament Details
2026 Bracket | Game Page
Wesleyan (19-3) vs. Middlebury (22-0)
Date: Sunday, May 22, 2026 – 3:00 PM
Location: Judson Stadium – Rochester, N.Y.
Live Coverage: Live Stats | Live Video
Full Wesleyan Game Notes vs. Middlebury
 
Tournament Schedule
Semifinals – May 22
No. 1 Middlebury vs. No. 4 Tufts – Middlebury wins 10-9 in overtime
No. 2 Wesleyan vs. No. 3 Salisbury – Wesleyan wins 5-4
Championship – May 24
No. 1 Middlebury vs. No. 2 Wesleyan – 3:00 PM
 
FIRST OF ALL
- Wesleyan is making its first appearance in the NCAA Championship game on Sunday, after advancing in what was the team's second-ever appearance in the NCAA Semifinals.
- Wesleyan is 14-7 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
- The Cardinals are seeking their first-ever National Championship on Sunday.
- Wesleyan ranked No. 3 in the final NPI ranking system that determined the NCAA Tournament field.
- The Cardinals are ranked No. 2 in the latest IWLCA Top 25 poll. Wesleyan has been ranked inside the Top 4 nationally all season long.
- Wesleyan ranks Top 10 nationally in scoring defense (5.90) and save percentage (.517) while the Cardinals clearing percentage (.870) is Top 20 among all D3 programs. 
- This marks the 11th consecutive season wherein the Cardinals recorded 11+ wins and qualified for the NCAA Tournament.
- Prior to this eight-season run (starting in 2017), the Cardinals had never won double-digit games or qualified for the NCAA Tournament in the program's history (first varsity season came in 1976).
- Wesleyan heads into Sunday with an 19-3 record, the highest single-season win total in program history, surpassing the 2019 squad that won 17 games and was the first in team history to advance to the Final Four.
- The Cardinals have a 12-player senior class, the biggest class as well as the winningest four-year class in program history. This group heads into Sunday with 65 wins.
 
WESLEYAN IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
- The Cardinals are back in the NCAA Tournament for the eighth straight season, comprising all eight all-time NCAA Tournament appearances in program history.
- Wesleyan has won at least one game in all but one of its eight tournament appearances.
- The Cardinals have made it to the Quarterfinal round three times while this is the team's first-ever National title game appearance.
- In neutral site games in NCAA Tournament play, Wesleyan is 4-4 all-time.
- The Cardinals are 13-2 all-time against non-NESCAC teams in the NCAA Tournament and are winners of seven straight games playing non-NESCAC's.
- Wesleyan's win over Trinity is the team's first-ever win over a NESCAC opponent in the NCAA Tournament as the Cardinals are 1-5 all-time in the NCAA Tournament against NESCAC programs.
 
THE TOURNAMENT THUS FAR STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- In the four games thus far, Wesleyan has held all four opponents to seven goals or less, with the Cardinals allowing just 19 goals in the four games.
- Wesleyan defeated Cortland 18-3 in the Second Round, matching the team's season-high in goals scored and fewest goals allowed in a game.
- The Cardinals most-recently held Salisbury to just four goals in the 5-4 NCAA Semifinal win, the fewest goals the Sea Gulls have scored since 2018.
- Coming off her hat trick against Salisbury, Dylan Green leads the team in both goals (nine) and points (12) thus far in the NCAA Tournament.
- Bridget Horst has eight goals and 11 points thus far in the NCAA Tournament as she recorded a career-high seven points (five goals, two assists) in a 14-7 Third Round win over UChicago. Horst's seven-point game tied a team record for most points and most goals scored in a NCAA Tournament game.
- Addie Cummings has seven goals and 11 points in the NCAA Tournament, scoring at least once in all four games.
- Kyra Browne has been the primary midfielder on the draws for Wesleyan and she has delivered with 12 draw controls in the four games while her play was vital in both the Quarterfinal against Trinity where Wesleyan held a 10-4 edge in draw controls and the Semifinal win over Salisbury wherein Wesleyan went 8-3 on draws.
- Lindsey Diomede has 18 caused turnovers, nine ground balls, and four draw controls across the NCAA Tournament.
- As a team, Wesleyan totaled 19 caused turnovers in the win over Trinity, tied for the second-highest single-game total for the Cardinals this season. Through four games, the Cardinals have 48 caused turnovers (12 per game).
- First Team All-American goalkeeper Izzy Weintraub has been at her best in the NCAA Tournament, posting a save percentage above 50 percent in all four games. She matched her career-high with 12 saves (seven goals allowed) against UChicago and then she posted six saves (five goals allowed) and held Trinity to a 1-for-6 showing on free position shots in the Quarterfinal win. She just shined on Friday with a nine-save performance, holding Salisbury to just four goals including one in the second half where she made stops on 5-of-6 Salisbury shots on goal after halftime. For the NCAA Tournament, she has 30 saves and a .630 save percentage.
 
MORE STAT STUFFERS
- Lindsey Diomede has rewrote the record books at Wesleyan with an incredible 2026 season, heading into Sunday with 79 caused turnovers and 64 ground balls. The senior defensive midfielder was named 2026 NESCAC Defensive Player of the Year, becoming the first Cardinal in team history to earn POY honors. Her 79 caused turnovers are well more than double the previous single-season record (38) at Wes while her ground ball total has the previous record (48) well beat. She also ranks second on the team with 54 draw controls this year.
- The IWLCA has awarded two National D3 Defensive Player of the Week awards thus far during the NCAA Tournament and Diomede has won both of those weekly honors.
- Izzy Weintraub is the program's first-ever goalkeeper to earn three career All-NESCAC honors as she is a two-time First Team selection. She has started 63 consecutive games and ranks first all-time at Wesleyan in career goals against average (7.06), save percentage (.495), and wins (52). Her 2026 season is the best by a goalie in team history, as Weintraub sports a 5.88 goals against average and .527 save percentage in over 1,200 minutes of work in the cage.
- Dylan Green ranks eighth all-time at Wesleyan with 135 career points while she is sixth all-time at Wes with 46 career assists. Green has 109 of those points over the last two seasons.
- Wesleyan features three 100-point scorers in Green (135), Addie Cummings (103) and Elle Priesing (100).
- Cummings went from accumulating one goal in 11 games played across her first two years at Wes to amassing 102 points and 77 goals in her junior and senior seasons combined. 
- Becca Dibble has 29 points on the season and 17 of those points (10 goals, seven assists) have come in the past nine games.
 
MORE INTERESTING TID BITS
- The Cardinals are 17-0 this season when gathering at least nine draw controls.
- The Cardinals are 11-0 this year when the team scores at least twice on the free position. Wesleyan is 1-for-4 on free positions in the three losses combined.
- Wesleyan has not lost a game this season when the Cardinals have won the draw control battle as Wes is 15-0 in games where they record more draw control wins compared to their opponent. In the three Wesleyan loses, the Cardinals are -19 on draws (33 wins for the opposition, 14 wins for Wes).
- Wesleyan has been outshot just three times in 2026 and the Cardinals sport a 1-2 record in those three instances.
- Wesleyan is undefeated (11-0) when Maddie Shoemaker scores at least once.
- When Mya Waryas tallies a multi-goal game, the Cardinals are 8-0 this year.
- In games where Wesleyan produces 22+ shots, the Cardinals are 15-0.
- This is the first time Wesleyan is playing in Rochester in program history as the Cardinals have never faced RIT or the University of Rochester.
 
MORE ABOUT COACH WILLIAMS
- The NCAA Quarterfinal win over Trinity marked the 150th career coaching win for Williams as she has 130 wins with the Cardinals as well as 20 wins in two seasons as the first-ever head coach at Stockton.
- Graduated from C.W. Post in 2010 as a three-time IWLCA All-American as well as the 2010 IWLCA D2 Defender of the Year. She led the then-Pioneers to four Final Four appearances as well as the 2007 D2 National Championship.
- Willliams took over at Wesleyan in 2016 when the Cardinals had accumulated eight consecutive losing seasons. Since her arrival, the team has posted 11+ wins eight times, something the program had never done before her arrival.
- With 131 career wins at Wesleyan, Williams is the all-time winningest coach in program history.
- Wesleyan has seen at least six players earn All-Region honors for eight seasons running (2018-26).
 
CONFERENCE CONCLUSIONS
- The NESCAC had three teams in the NCAA Semifinals for the second straight year.
- Since 1994, the NESCAC has had at least one team advance to the Final Four, marking 34 consecutive seasons.
- The 2026 NCAA Quarterfinal round featured five NESCAC schools with two Regional pods featuring an all-NESCAC Quarterfinal game (Wesleyan vs. Trinity and Tufts vs. Williams).
- This marks the seventh all-NESCAC NCAA Championship game including the second straight year and third time in five seasons.

ABOUT MIDDLEBURY
- Middlebury is making its 30th appearance in the NCAA Tournament, while advancing to the NCAA Championship for the 15th time. 
- Middlebury is in search of its fifth straight NCAA title and 12th crown in program history. 
- The Panthers have won 29 straight NCAA Tournament games.
- Middlebury is first in the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 5.13 goals per game this season.
- The Panthers defeated St. John Fisher 17-4 in the NCAA Second Round, followed by wins last weekend over No. 18 Rowan (21-4) and No. 14 TCNJ (19-4), and most-recently a dramatic 10-9 OT win over No. 4 Tufts.
- Caroline Adams was named as the NESCAC Player of the Year after scoring 70 goals to go with 44 assists and 120 draw controls.
- Haley Hamilton has 57 goals, while Skylar Lach has netted 43 as well. 
- Elizabeth Savage has stopped 47.9 percent of shots in cage for Midd, allowing 5.16 goals per game. 
- Head coach Kate Livesay is in her 11th season with the Panthers, going 194-12 with Middlebury after graduating from the program back in 2003.