Owls Field Hockey Draws Seven-Time Champ Middlebury
The Owls and Panthers Square off in Middlebury, Vt. on Wednesday evening
WESTFIELD, Mass. - Westfield State University will face seven-time defending national champion Middlebury College in the opening round of the NCAA Division III Tournament at Middlebury, Vt. on Wednesday at 4:30 PM (please note time change).
Westfield will be making their second straight NCAA Tournament appearance and their third overall.
The Owls (18-3) drew the Panthers (12-5), a program that has won eight of the last nine NCAA Division III tournaments, and been the national runners up on four other occasions.
Middlebury earned an at-large bid this season after falling to Bates College in the semifinals of the New England Small College Athletic Conference tournament. Middlebury was ranked #9 in the nation in the most recent NFHCA poll.
Westfield earned the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference's automatic bid by winning the league's tournament on Saturday with a 4-2 decision over Worcester State.
The 28-team field consists of 18 automatic qualifiers and 10 at-large bids.
First round games for the NCAA Tournament begin Nov. 12, with the second and third rounds at regional sites on Nov. 15 and 16. The final four is scheduled to be played at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn. on Nov. 21 and 23.
The Owls traveled to Shenendoah (Va.) in 2024 and came out on the short end of an 11-0 result. Westfield hosted the first-ever NCAA Division III Final Four in 1981, where the Owls finished third in the nation. Westfield State's Alumni Field was the host site for the 2004 NCAA D3 final four.
Middlebury topped Tufts, 2-1 in the 2024 national championship game.
The winner of Wednesday's first round game will travel to Baltimore, Md. to play the Endicott (Mass.)/ Keene State (NH) winner in a regional at #2 Johns Hopkins on Saturday.
More details will be released on WestfieldStateOwls.com this week.