Women rack up five-game win streak Loss to Salisbury only blemish of 7-1 season record for Panthers

Author: Sarah Luehrman

Three NESCAC victories in a row have boosted the Middlebury women's lacrosse team's position in the league as well as its determination. A 19-6 victory over Tufts on Kohn Field Tuesday afternoon fueled a five-game winning streak for the 7-1 Panthers, and this weekend they travel to Bates undefeated in the conference. "The team has really come together over the past couple games," said captain Alison Perencevich '06, "and we've been improving our game all over the field."

Last Sunday was "a great day to be a Panther," according to assistant coach Melissa Hopkins after Middlebury's home game against Bowdoin. After a brief lead for the Polar Bears in the first 10 minutes of the game, the Panthers turned it on and scored five goals in a row, two of which came from attacker Schuyler Winstead '06, the leading scorer for the day with four total goals. Perencevich also scored on a defense-initiated fastbreak with four different assists, beginning with a ground ball by Natalie Shettle '07 passed on to Reid Berrien '08. Berrien then streaked down the field and passed to captain Emily Erickson '06, who fed the ball to an away cut from Winstead to Perencevich for the goal. Perencevich commented that the team has been focusing on "applying pressure all over the field" and maintaining a high intensity on attack and defense - the tight collaboration employed in the Bowdoin game serves to showcase their progress. "We really gelled," she said, "and accomplished a lot of what we've been working hard on in practice." The team ended the day with a 15-6 victory to show for it.

The Bowdoin win came on the heels of a 16-11 victory at Trinity the previous weekend. "We really worked our fast-break well [at Trinity]," noted Perencevich, "and had good transition with the ball." With 10 minutes remaining the first half and a slim 4-3 lead, the Panthers took off on a six-goal streak, after which the Bantams scored once more to end the half at 10-4.

The second half started well, highlighted by five saves from goalie Blair Bowie '09. Trinity answered, however, with a six goal run of their own, narrowing the Panthers' lead to 13-11. An unassisted goal by Winstead broke the streak, followed a minute later by a high shot from captain Elizabeth Renehan '06 on a pass from Mimi Schatz '08. The game ended with a final shot from Perencevich with a feed from Renehan, "the most selfless play of the game," according to Hopkins. Renehan's four goals and two assists made her the offensive leader, followed closely by Michele Bergofsky '07, with three goals and two assists, and Winstead with two goals and four assists.

The team's current winning streak began at on the Connecticut College fields on Monday, March 27, the first day back from spring break. The Panthers ran circles around the Camels and walked away with an easy 21-9 victory. The statistics speak for themselves - Middlebury outshot Connecticut 32-18 and mastered them in draw controls as well, 17-12. Bergofsky scored the first goal of the game, capturing a groundball on the left side then scoring on the right with a sidearm release - Connecticut goalie Alix Werner must have known she was in for it then. Six goals later, with the Panthers leading 7-0, the Camels answered with a few of their own, but they were no match for Middlebury's aggressive offense and zone defense. Perencevich led the offense with five goals, bolstered by three each from Channing Weymouth '06 and Winstead.

Just two days later, the Panthers finally got to play on Kohn Field, the first home game of the season, against Union. After an initial 2-0 lead, Union came back with a pair of goals to tie the game before Middlebury's offense fired up and scored five of the next six goals. The half ended at 7-3 after a nice free-position shot from Winstead and a low shot by Renehan with an assist from Bergofsky. Middlebury and Union exchanged goals for the first 14 minutes of the second half, when Union scored for the last time and the Panthers took off on a six goal run to end the game at 15-5.

The Panthers suffered their only defeat of the season in Florida over spring break at the hands of Salisbury, the same team to serve them their only regular season loss in 2005. Hopkins called it "a battle of possession and finesse," a wake-up call after an easy 21-1 victory over St. Lawrence two days earlier. Salisbury was first to score, but Renehan answered on a feed from Bergofsky just moments later. Fourteen minutes of play followed with no goals scored, but "a lot of great focused Zone defense intermingled lots of shots at both ends of the field," recalls Hopkins. "The Zone was a loud coop using very direct communication that you could hear all the way at the opposite end."

Salisbury scored, however, and began widening their lead slowly. The half ended with Salisbury leading 36-3 after Kim Walker '07 scored on a free-position shot. Middlebury and Salisbury had each totaled 13 offensive possessions thus far. In the second half, the Panthers had 11 possessions over the Sea Gulls' seven, the latter applying a patient offense to Middlebury's pressure. In the last 10 minutes of the game, with Salisbury leading 8-4, the Panthers started going after their opponents, making their last two minutes of the game "the most aggressive minutes on the field," according to Hopkins. Weymouth scored on a fastbreak with an assist from Winstead, and Renehan tallied moments later on a free position to end the game at 6-8.

Bates, 0-2 in the conference, will have much to contend with this weekend when they host Middlebury, who is yet to be defeated by a NESCAC team, this Saturday, April 25. The game will be the Panthers' fourth conference game, and they will rush the Bobcats' turf hoping to continue their streak. "We are headed into the core of our season," says Perencevich, "and we're excited for our upcoming games."