The 5th ranked field hockey team proved ferocious this weekend in their determination to regain a winning streak with two wins on the road last week.
The Panthers defeated their NESCAC opponents 3-1 in Waterville, Maine, and continued on the road to Albany, NY where they were victorious over Montclair State in an impressive 9-1 win the following day.
The Panthers led the charge against the Mules early in the game on Bill Alfond Field with a quick goal by sophomore Bridget Instrum ’16 just 2 minutes in. Instrum was unassisted in her first of two goals for the game, and first of three for the weekend.
Middlebury’s eight penalty corners in the first half alone granted them an attacking advantage, allowing them to control the momentum and speed of the game right from the start.
The Panther’s second goal came off of one of these corner opportunities, when a battle for the ball resulted an assist by Shannon Hutteman ’16 to Jillian Green ’16, who knocked the ball into the goal 8:50 into the game.
The Mules tightened up their defense, only allowing Middlebury one penalty corner in the second half. However, it appeared to be too late for the Mules to correct their mistakes from the first half.
Instrum scored her second goal 41 minutes into the game with an assist from Anna Kenyon ’16 to make the score 2-0 Middlebury advantage. Instrum nicely summarized the attacking dominance of the game: “I think we developed some really great offensive opportunities especially from quick transition play and strategically drawn corners.”
The Mules’ one and only goal of the game came during the second half when Caroline Ferguson netted a shot from a penalty corner with only 3:48 remaining on the clock.
Each team finished with 20 shots on goal, but Middlebury pulled ahead by capitalizing on their drawn corners and scoring opportunities. Colby moves on from this game 4-4 in total but 0-4 in the NESCAC while the Panthers improved to 3-1 in NESCAC play.
The Middlebury field hockey team then met up with Montclair State on Sunday, Sept. 28th at a neutral field site in Albany, NY for an out of conference matchup that resulted in a 9-1 victory for the Panthers. The red Hawks (7-2) were no match for the Panthers (6-1) who dominated the game and proved unrelenting in their ability to score.
Hutteman and senior captain Catherine Fowler ’15 each scored two goals in the game, accompanied by one goal each from Lauren Berestecky ’17, Pam Schulman ’17, Kenyon, Annie Leonard ’18 and Instrum.
Middlebury got off to a good start with a goal from Hutteman assisted by Kenyon and Alyssa DiMaio ’15 just 1:17 into the game. The next goal soon followed with an unassisted shot by Fowler at 2:22 off of a penalty stroke to grant her fourth goal of the season.
Next came Berestecky with a goal at the 8:43 mark, assisted by Kenyon. The scoring picked back up again about 20 minutes into the game when Schulman netted her third goal of the season.
Montclair scored their only goal of the game 23 minutes in with a shot by Maura Johnston assisted by Gianna Moglino. Moglino had shot seconds before, but Middlebury goalie Emily Knapp ’15 blocked the attempt.
Middlebury finished out the first half with a goal from Kenyon 32 minutes in, making the score 5-1 Panthers.
The incredible Panther offensive operation wasn’t over yet.
Leonard scored first in the beginning of the second half with a goal assisted by Fowler. Less than 2 minutes after that, Instrum scored her first of the game and third of the weekend off of an assist from Fowler.
Fowler also managed to tuck another one in the goal for herself at the 46-minute mark, making it 5 goals on the season. Hutteman scored the 9th and final goal of the game with 14 minutes remaining to play, assisted by Dimaio and Lauren Schweppe ’18.
While Montclair tried to fight back with multiple substitutions and two more shots on goal in the final stages of the game, none proved successful in thwarting the strong Middlebury defensive line, and Knapp did not let any more shots in the goal. Coming off this impressive 9-1 victory, Middlebury will travel to play Skidmore College Wednesday October 1st with a record of 6-1.
