INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – On Monday morning, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) announced the field for the 2026 Division III Women's Lacrosse Tournament. The Messiah University Women's Lacrosse team earned an at-large bid and will travel to Ewing, N.J. for opening weekend hosted by The College of New Jersey. Messiah will take the field at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 9 against the Lancers of Worcester State.
Messiah has a season record of 14-5 and 7-0 in MAC Commonwealth play. The Falcons enter the tournament via at-large bid after being defeated by York College in the MAC Commonwealth Championship. Worcester State is 14-5 with a conference record of 7-0. The Lancers enter the tournament after a 14-13 overtime win against Westfield State in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference
Championship.
The Falcons and Lancers have never met on the field.
Read below for a quick preview of the NCAA Opening Weekend match-ups:
Messiah University Falcons
14-5 Overall, 7-0 Conference
MAC Commonwealth Runner-Up
How They Got Here
The Falcons enter the tournament via an at-large bid after being defeated by York College in the MAC Commonwealth Championship. Messiah is second in the conference with 14.42 goals per game, third with 6.89 assists per game, and second with 21.32 points per game.
Hayley Lettinga is first in the conference with 3.89 goals per game and
Grace Pettitt is third with 3.11 goals per game. Pettitt is first in assists per game with 2.89 and first with 6.00 points per game.
Hannah Gawne is second with 5.05 draw controls per game and third with 2.84 ground balls per game.
Players to Watch
#21
Grace Pettitt – 114 points, 59 goals, 55 assists, 28 ground balls
#6
Hayley Lettinga – 82 points, 74 goals, 8 assists, 48 draw controls
#17
Annalise Keitel – 65 points, 40 goals, 25 assists, 28 ground balls
#4
Addyson Wagman – 25 draw controls, 16 caused turnovers, 22 ground balls, 3 goals
#2
Grace Hejeebu – 8.22 GAA, .493 save %, 37 ground balls
Messiah has an all-time NCAA Tournament record of 8-12.
Worcester State Lancers
14-5 Overall, 7-0 Conference
MASCAC Champions
How They Got Here
The Lancers enter the tournament after a 14-13 overtime win against Westfield State in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship. Molly Witkowski leads the conference with 43 assists and is second with 80 points.
Players to Watch
#19 Molly Witkowski – 80 points, 37 goals, 43 assists, 11 caused turnovers
#14 Shannon Donahue – 69 points, 47 goals, 22 assists, 66 draw controls
#5 Mckayla Fisher – 66 points, 37 goals, 29 assists, 99 draw controls
#12 Madigan Kelley – 34 goals, 78 draw controls, 15 caused turnovers, 32 ground balls
#29 Cadence Oleniak – 11.48 GAA, .454 save %, 25 ground balls
History Against Messiah
This will be the first meeting between the Falcons and Lancers.
The College of New Jersey Lions
16-2 Overall, 5-0 Conference
NJAC Champions
How They Got Here
The Lions enter the tournament after a 10-7 win over Rowan University in the New Jersey Athletic Conference Championship. TCNJ was second in the conference with 14.28 goals per game and first with 8.11 assists per game. Marissa Lucca was second in the conference with 4.06 goals per game and led the conference with 2.78 assists per game and 6.83 points per game. Hailey Wexler led the conference with a 5.55 goals against average and .517 save percentage.
Players to Watch
#18 Marissa Lucca – 123 points, 73 goals, 50 assists, 43 draw controls, 30 caused turnovers
#10 Kelly Nevins – 75 points, 57 goals, 18 assists, 23 ground balls
#15 CJ Kole – 57 points, 39 goals, 18 assists, 45 draw controls
#23 Emily Potenza – 13 goals, 38 draw controls, 28 caused turnovers, 51 ground balls
History Against Messiah
TCNJ holds a 5-1 advantage against Messiah, claiming a 14-6 win in their last meeting on May 14, 2023.
