Senior midfielder Julia Jardina leads the Colby College women’s lacrosse team with 53 goals. The Mules (13-2) host Trinity on Saturday in the quarterfinal round of the NESCAC tournament. Photo by Jamie Fiedorek courtesy of Colby College Athletics

Since 2019, the Colby women’s lacrosse team has been a constant participant in the NCAA Division III tournament.

This season, the Mules have given multiple indications that they can take on the nation’s best teams.

Colby (13-2) wrapped up its regular season Wednesday with an 18-3 victory over New England Small College Athletic Conference rival Bates. The Mules are ranked No. 3 in the NCAA Division Region 1 rankings and No. 3 nationally in the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association rankings. The only teams above the Mules on both lists are the two teams Colby has lost to this season, No. 2 Tufts (14-1) and No. 1 Middlebury (15-0), the three-time defending national champion.

“Every single player has bought into this (season),” said Colby coach Karen Henning, who has led the Mules to a winning record in each of her 18 seasons (the 2020 and 2021 seasons were canceled because of COVID-19). “They’re working their butts off, they’re trying to make each other better, not just themselves better. That’s a really special quality. And they’re not satisfied. They’re not, ‘Oh, we played well.’ They want to play better. When you show up at practice with people who are eager to learn, eager to grow, it’s really exciting. And when they care about each other as much as these guys do, it makes it that more special.”

Colby hosts Trinity (8-7) in the quarterfinal round of the NESCAC tournament at noon Saturday at Bill Alfond Field in Waterville.

The Mules reached the NCAA quarterfinals each of the past three seasons. Last year, Colby finished 13-7, thrashing through the competition with a strong attack, led by Ally Franz (49 goals) and Julia Jardina (48), who combined for 97 of the Mules’ 224 goals. Jardina, a senior midfielder, is again leading the offense with 53 goals, but the Mules have a more well-rounded attack. Aside from Jardina, seven players have 10 goals or more.

“Something Karen has always said is, ‘It doesn’t matter who puts up the goals, they’re all Colby goals,'” Jardina said. “Our team embodies that in general. On defense, they play as a unit, it doesn’t matter who gets the ground balls. They just all have each other’s backs, and that’s what makes them so great.”

Colby College women’s lacrosse coach Karen Henning, middle, leads the team through a warmup before its game against Bowdoin on April 9 in Brunswick. Dave Dyer/Kennebec Journal

Henning also gave credit to the Colby defense, headed by senior Kat Munter, who leads the team with 30 ground balls and 49 draw controls.

“Our defensive unit has been incredibly in sync,” Henning said. “They really work together, have each other’s backs. One of our (team) values is ‘Got your six,’ from the military, and they live it. They’re going to be there and cover you, if you need it, and they want you to go out there and take risks. I think those are some of the hardest defenses to beat, when they’re in sync like that.”

Colby has also shown no fear against the top team in the nation. The Mules nearly pulled a stunner at home on April 5, falling 12-11 to Middlebury, which has a 61-game winning streak dating back to 2022.

“Obviously, we’ve had tons of games against them in my career — and that one was very cool — but I think it just made us hungrier,” Jardina said. “It wasn’t close enough (to lose by one), we saw it and were proud of it. But this group, we took that and said, ‘That’s the standard now, and we’re going to get better.’ It’s cool with this group, because it made them hungrier.”

Henning added: “Honestly, there’s still things that we can get better at. If we can execute and consistently play at a high level, we have a chance to compete for a championship. That’s what this group has been working toward. I think that’s what we took (from the Middlebury game). It’s pretty special to know, when you walk off the field, that it still wasn’t good enough, in some ways, in our minds.”