FROM STAFF REPORTS

MIDDLEBURY, Vt. -- The Colby College women's lacrosse team earned an historic upset, handing Middlebury College its first-ever New England Small College Athletic Conference playoff defeat, 10-8, on Saturday.

The No. 4 Mules advance to play No. 3 Trinity College in the NESCAC championship game at noon today. The winner gets an automatic berth to the NCAA Division III tournament.

No. 1-seeded Middlebury was the seven-time defending conference champions and had an 88-game home winning streak dating back to 1997. The Panthers had won all their playoff games by at least two goals and had beaten Colby four times in the playoffs by an average of nearly eight goals.

Colby's all-time record before against Middlebury before Saturday's game was 0-15.

"I'm just so happy for the team," Colby first-year coach Karen Henning said. "We just stayed composed and focused. The other time we played them this year we got down and I think we thought that 'It's Middlebury,' and we stopped playing. This time we stayed with it and kept working."

The Mules trailed 6-2 at halftime Saturday and were trailing 8-3 with 22 minutes left in the game. Carrie Lovejoy scored at 19:54 to make it 8-6 with 19:54 left. Amy Campbell scored to make it 8-7 with 10:57 remaining then tied wit 1:22 later.

Becky Julian scored the game-winner with 7:06 to play and added an insurance goal about four minutes later.

College softball

North Atlantic Conference tournament: In Bangor, Lesley College beat Husson 10-4 in an elimination game, then beat the University of Maine at Farmington 5-2 to force the if-necessary game in the double elimination tournament.

Lesley and UMF will play for the conference championship today at noon. The winner will receive an automatic berth to the NCAA tournament.

For UMF, Kasey McPhail drove in both runs. Starting pitcher Sarah Defilipp allowed five earned runs on 11 hits in five innings of work to take the loss, just her third this season.

Colby 7-5, St. Joe's 1-5: Alex Essman hit her 10th home run of the season and Carlie Minichino also homered as the Mules cruised to a win in the opener of a doubleheader in Waterville. St. Joe's won the second game, snapping Colby's eight-game winning streak. The Mules end the year at 17-14.

College baseball

Hartford 8-1, Maine 4-6: Alejandro Balsinde pitched a compete game, allowing just one run on five hits as the Black Bears won the second game and managed a split at Mahaney Diamond in Orono.

Balsinde (2-5) struck out five batters for Maine (17-23-1, 5-10 America East), which scored all six runs in the first three innings, which included a two-run triple by Tony Patane and a solo home run by Kevin McAvoy, his second homer this season.

Hartford (16-25, 8-7) tagged Matt Jebb for the loss in the first game Saturday. Jebb (2-4) allowed six runs -- four of which were unearned -- on six hits and struck out three.

Maine and Hartford will complete their series at 1 p.m. today. Before the game, Maine will honor seniors Nolan Boike, Will Carroll, Mark Ostrander and Curt Smith.

Maryland-Baltimore County 3-6, Maine 2-2: Dana Shepherd and Ashley Gray both hit solo home runs in the first inning of the first game as the Retrievers swept a doubleheader will the Black Bears in Orono.

Track and field

Colby fields two winners: A week after winning the 3,000-meter steeplechase at her league meet, Anna King won the 1,500-meter run at Coast Guard Academy in the New England Division III Women's Track and Field Championships.

Chris DeRoo bounced back from an injury that kept him out of the NESCAC championship meet to win the 400. DeRoo won with in 49.47 seconds.

Also Saturday: Mt. Blue High School graduate Shannon Yates, now at Gettysburg College, finished second in the long jump with a leap of 17 feet, 2 inches at the Centennial Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships. ... The Maine men are fourth at the America East championships after one day; the women are fifth.