2025 NCAA Division III Tournament: Semifinals & Final

NO. 1 CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT vs NO. 6 TUFTS | 12 PM ET | STATS | WATCH

For the second straight year, Tufts is back in the NCAA Division III Semifinals, the program’s seventh all-time appearance, after navigating a demanding tournament path that included an 11–0 opening-round win over Dean and gritty victories over NESCAC rivals Williams (2-1 OT) and Bates (3-1). The Jumbos (17-3), the only NESCAC team remaining, take the field Friday at noon against undefeated Christopher Newport, a 19-0 juggernaut that has spent the season atop the national rankings behind the country’s best defense.

Tufts brings both experience and firepower into Hartford. The Jumbos are the only team in this year’s field with a national championship (2012) and have reached six previous title games. Senior striker Hannah Biccard leads a balanced offense with 16 goals, the program’s highest single-season total since 2013, while All-American Lydia Eastburn backstops a defense allowing just 1.03 goals per game. Seven Jumbos have double-digit points, and the group’s resilience has defined a season in which six starters graduated and a young roster surged into form.

Christopher Newport, meanwhile, arrives at Trinity College with one of the most impressive résumés in Division III history. Without a conference home this fall, the Captains embarked on a 4,400-mile nationwide schedule and beat nine teams that won their 2025 league titles. They secured their Semifinal berth by topping Lynchburg 2-1 in overtime and No. 5 Salisbury 1-0 behind a suffocating back line anchored by senior goalkeeper Lily Kerr, whose .880 save percentage ranks second nationally. CNU’s 0.36 goals-against average leads the nation, and junior Lindsey Loar (14 goals) fronts an attack that thrives on precision and pressure.

This is just the third meeting between the programs—Tufts won matchups in 2014 and 2015—and the Jumbos’ postseason pedigree meets the Captains’ perfect record in a compelling contrast of experience and momentum. The winner advances to Sunday’s national Championship to face either Johns Hopkins or Babson, both 20-plus-win teams in the midst of dominant seasons.

With Tufts chasing its first title in 13 years and CNU seeking its first championship game appearance, Friday’s semifinal promises to be one of the most intriguing showdowns of the DIII season.

NO. 2 JOHNS HOPKINS vs NO. 3 BABSON | 3:30 PM ET | STATS | WATCH

Babson returns to championship weekend for the third time since 2016, carrying a program-record 18-game winning streak into Friday’s NCAA Division III Semifinal against second-ranked Johns Hopkins at 3:30 p.m. on Robin Sheppard Field in Hartford. The No. 3 Beavers (22-1), who advanced with tight wins over Bowdoin and Wesleyan, are back in the Semifinal after runs in 2016 and 2023, and enter with one of the nation’s most explosive scorers in NEWMAC Athlete of the Year Caroline DiGiovanni. The senior has 14 goals in her last 10 games and sits fourth on Babson’s single-season goals list with 25. First-year goalkeeper Madison Tibbals anchors a defense that owns 11 shutouts and the eighth-best goals-against average in Division III at 0.80.

Standing in the way is a Johns Hopkins program with unmatched recent postseason experience. The Blue Jays (21-1) punched their sixth Semifinal ticket in eight seasons by defeating seven-time defending national champion Middlebury 3-0 in a commanding Quarterfinal, flipping a script that had seen the Panthers eliminate Hopkins in each of the past four NCAA Tournaments, including three straight championship games. Seniors Megan Chang and Grace Waldeck lead a balanced Hopkins attack, while graduate student Jenna Halpin—central to all three goals against Middlebury—directs one of the most dangerous corner units in the country. Goalkeeper Aubrey Kilgore owns a 0.74 GAA and .865 save percentage, both top-10 marks nationally.

The programs have met only twice, splitting the all-time series 1–1. Hopkins won the most recent matchup, a 1-0 defensive battle in the 2022 NCAA quarterfinals in Babson Park, while the Beavers took the 2011 meeting. Babson, undefeated in one-goal games this season (11–0), looks to break through to its first championship game, while Hopkins seeks a fourth straight trip to the national final after runner-up finishes in 2021, 2022, and 2023.

TUFTS vs JOHNS HOPKINS | 12 PM ET | WATCH

Tufts returns to the NCAA Championship Game for the second straight season after grinding out a 1–0 semifinal victory over previously unbeaten and No. 1–ranked Christopher Newport on Friday at Trinity (CT). Junior Lilly Ragusa delivered the game’s lone goal early in the second quarter, finishing a slick sequence started by Riley Pearson and Hannah Biccard. From there, Tufts’ defensive unit, anchored by senior All-American goalkeeper Lydia Eastburn, closed the door, limiting CNU to five total shots and just two on target. The shutout was the Jumbos’ seventh of the season and pushed their NCAA record to 31–14 all-time. Now 18–3, Tufts heads to its sixth national final in program history and first back-to-back appearance since 2018–2019.

Waiting for them is No. 2 Johns Hopkins (22–1), which advanced in dramatic fashion with a 2–1 double-overtime win over Babson. Junior Sophia Albano netted the golden goal with 3:58 left in the second OT, capping a relentless Blue Jay push during a lengthy player-advantage stretch. Hopkins, making its fourth title-game appearance in five years, boasts one of Division III’s stingiest defenses (0.72 GAA), led by standout goalkeeper Aubrey Kilgore (.865 save percentage). Offensively, senior Megan Chang powers a balanced attack scoring over three goals per game. The championship matchup renews a recent NCAA rivalry—Tufts won the 2018 semifinal, while Hopkins took the 2019 Elite 8 meeting in overtime—and pairs a Jumbo team fueled by depth and late-season momentum against a Blue Jay squad still seeking its first national championship.