Women's Lacrosse Falls to Fourth in NESCAC

Coming off of a 15-8 win against Union College, the Middlebury women’s lacrosse team suffered an uncharacteristic loss to 10th-ranked Colby by a score of 14-11 on Saturday, April 19. The game was a 60-minute battle, with both teams remaining within three goals of each other until the final 10 minutes.

Colby was the first to fire in the game with Mule Abby Hatch scoring an unassisted goal two minutes into the game. Middlebury responded with three consecutive goals. Liza Herzog ’14 finished the first goal unassisted, while Megan Griffin ’16 was able to finish the second two of the Panther run with assists from Delania Smith ’17 and Katie Ritter ’15 respectively.

After a two-goal rebuttal from Colby, Laurel Pascal ’16 netted a pass from Herzog to make the score 4-3 with 22 minutes left in the first half. Colby then went on a three-goal run only to be stopped by an unassisted goal from Ritter. Despite losing momentum to a number of Mule goals, the Panthers were able to swing the momentum in their favor going into the second half with a pair of goals from Griffin and Pascal.

Running with this momentum, Herzog and Ritter were able to score goals for the Panthers five minutes into the first half, which allowed the Panthers to take the lead. These, however, would be Middlebury’s last points until eight minutes left in the game as Colby went on a run of five unanswered goals that was only stymied by a goal from Alli Sciarretta ’16 to make the final score 11-14.

Middlebury’s performance was led by Griffin who finished the day with three goals and an assist, along with Ritter, who finished with two goals and two assists. Herzog and Sciarretta each finished the game with a pair of goals and an assist. Catherine Fowler ’15 led the Panthers in the ground-ball game, finishing with five ground balls.

“Megan Griffin has been a nice surprise for us this season,” Head Coach Missy Foote said. “This year she hit the ground running and has really been a big contributor. She plays smart and poised and has great stick skills.”

Foote also noted that Fowler has handled her transition from attack to defense well, and is making a big difference on the field both on defense and as the team’s draw specialist.

Colby’s Lindsey McKenna led the Mules’ effort finishing with five goals on the day. Her performance was complemented by Katharine Eddy who finished with three goals and three assists, as well as Sarah Lux who finished with four assists.

Colby outshot Middlebury 24-20 and out-ground-balled the Panthers 15-6. Middlebury – who cleared 15 of its 18 attempts against Union on Tuesday – had significant trouble with its clearing game against Colby as they successfully cleared only 6 of 14 attempts.

Foote noted that the clear game would be a focus as the team moves forward.

“We have struggled a bit in that area this season but are working on it and improving daily,” she said.

While Alyssa Palomba ’14 started the game for the Panthers, after 18 minutes she was substituted for Katie Mandigo ’16, who finished the game with two saves on nine total shots on goal.

Now 10-4 on the season and 6-3 in conference play, Middlebury hopes to host a NESCAC quarterfinal matchup on Saturday, April 26. The Panthers will likely be playing for their season throughout the NESCAC tournament, as they cannot count on receiving an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.