Hamilton field hockey blanks Southern Maine 4-0, heads to Middlebury for NCAA second round

Hamilton College’s field hockey team is one win into the NCAA tournament, and it got there with a dominant afternoon on the Hill. The ninth-ranked Continentals beat the University of Southern Maine 4-0 at Goodfriend Field on Wednesday, Nov. 11, in the first round of the Division III championship.

Hamilton (12-5) moves on to a second-round game against NESCAC rival Wesleyan at 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 14, at Middlebury College in Vermont, according to the NCAA bracket. It is the second year in a row the program has reached the second round.

Early goals, then a wall

The Continentals hadn’t been scoring much coming in. They were shut out in three of their previous four games and had four goals total in their last five, Hamilton’s athletics department noted in its game story. That changed in the first five minutes.

Sophomore Brighton McMahon opened the scoring 3:06 in, turning with her back to the goal and lifting a backhand over the Southern Maine keeper off a centering pass from Alden Duserick. Eighty-four seconds later, senior Isabelle Nahon drove a low shot past the goalkeeper on a penalty corner inserted by Eleanor Cooper.

Nahon set up the third goal late in the second quarter, sliding the ball to Morgan Clarke on the left wing for a one-timer. Brooke Bilodeau finished the scoring 72 seconds into the fourth, redirecting a Shaw Huston pass at the far post for the second goal of her career.

The defense did the rest. Hamilton outshot Southern Maine 22-1 and held a 16-1 edge in penalty corners. Kelly Janssen and Reilly Loughman combined on the shutout, with Loughman playing the final 11-plus minutes. It was the first time all season someone other than Janssen had been in the cage. Hamilton finished the year 8-1 at home.

Southern Maine, the Little East Conference tournament champion, came in at 15-7 and had won six of its last seven.

A familiar opponent next

Wesleyan (11-6) earned its spot by routing SUNY Geneseo 8-1 at home Wednesday, Wesleyan reported. The two play in the same conference, so there won’t be many surprises. Middlebury, the host school and an eight-time national champion since 2015, plays Union at 11 a.m. at the same site. The third round is Sunday, Nov. 15, with semifinals Nov. 20 and the championship game Nov. 22. Every game streams on NCAA.com.

This is Hamilton’s third NCAA appearance, after 2009 and 2025, and Wednesday’s win evened its tournament record at 2-2. Ninth-year coach Missy Mariano’s team reached a program-best No. 5 in the national coaches poll in mid-October.

Nahon, a 2025 All-American and first-team All-NESCAC pick, has nine goals and nine assists this fall. Janssen, Clarke and Kenna White were second-team all-conference selections.