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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Panthers eat Cardinals on home field, winning by 10

The 13th ranked Middlebury Panthers had a definitive victory over the Wesleyan Cardinals this past Saturday on Kohn Field. The Panthers improve to 2-0 in the season with both victories against NESCAC opponents.
The win was a solid team effort, as seven different scorers netted goals. Sally Ryan ’11 scored the first goal of the game off a free position, before the Cardinals responded with a goal of their own.
From there, Middlebury broke away with a five-goal run and would continue to hold the momentum for the rest of the game.

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Ellen Halle ’13 scored three goals during the first half, ending the Panthers’ five goal run at 9:43 off a feed from Ryan. The teams then exchanged a pair of goals leaving the score at 8-3 at the intermission.
Ryan set the tone for the second half, adding two more goals to her tally including one in which she forced a Cardinals turnover, setting up her own score at 20:32.
Wesleyan’s Kaylin Berger responded with a goal, her third of the game, before Chase Delano ’11 fired back with a score for the Panthers. Berger would score again setting the score at 11-5 with 11:27 left to play.
From there on out, Middlebury controlled the game, answering Wesleyan’s pair of goals with four of its own– two for Ryan, one for Halle and one for Liz Garry ’12.
Goalie Lily Nguyen ’12 had another great game making twelve saves while only allowing five goals during her 57:42 time in net. Alyssa Palomba ’14 stepped in goal for the final 2:18 of the game, making one save in that time.
Halle, Ryan and Coach Missy Foote all attributed the team’s victory to the hard work they put in practicing fast breaking off the draw and goalie clears this past week.
“Fast break goals always boost the energy on the field,” said Ryan, “and made Saturday’s game fast paced and exciting.”
“We were able to play with composure while also taking some risks,” said Halle, “which really paid off.”
Moreover, the team remained consistent throughout the game, a promising improvement from last week’s victory against Bates. This complete game can be attributed to the fact that many members of the team stepped up, producing multiple standouts in the mind of Coach Foote.
Foote commended Liza Herzog ’14 on “scoring her first collegiate goal and having six ground balls and two caused turnovers.”
Moreover, she applauded her veterans for their leading roles in the game. Foote recognized, “Sally Ryan’s five goals, one assist, three ground balls and four draw controls; Halle’s four goals; Hannah Epstein ’12 held their leading assister to no assists; Nguyen had 12 saves, and Steph Gill ’12 did an incredible job changing up the draw and had four draw controls herself.”
The team will hope to continue this winning streak Thursday against Babson, who the Panthers  lost to last year in a close 15-13 match.
Both Foote and Ryan are ready to work on their offensive plays, midfield transition and fast break in anticipation of their matchup against the Babson Beavers.
While off to a great start, Foote noted that the team’s goals for the season are to “play as a cohesive group and surpass our potential.” The Panthers will host Babson at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 24th.


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