Walker sisters walk all over Polar Bears

Author: James Kerrigan

Soggy conditions forced the women's soccer team to play on turf fields all weekend, but the rain failed to dampen the team's spirit. The Panthers beat Trinity 3-0 on Saturday and handled Bowdoin 3-1 on Sunday, securing a berth in the NESCAC semifinals for a matchup against Colby on Saturday.

The combination of torrential rain and a morning men's game made Dragone Field unplayable and meant that the women needed to travel a couple hundred yards west to play on the more weather-resistant turf of Kohn Field. Coach Peter Kim stressed that "it does not matter what happens to us, what matters is how we react." The team practiced what he preached this weekend as Middlebury got off to a quick start and controlled the tempo throughout the rest of the game.

Keeper Adele Plunket '09, who recorded her seventh shutout of the season, echoed Kim's approach. "I think it was important to prove this weekend that we can play on any field, under any conditions, against any team," she said.

Just two and a half minutes into the game, the opportunistic Tri-Captain Caitrin Abshere '07 collected a misplayed goal-kick by Trinity, in which goalie Tara Finucane slipped and fell right before striking the ball. Abshere lofted the ball over Finucane into the high netting. Abshere's work was not done, as she assisted fellow midfielder Erin Oliver's '07 fifth goal of the season 8:28 later.

As the rain intensified, so did Middlebury's back-line. They locked down and gave Trinity very few scoring opportunities. When the Bantam strikers did penetrate the Middlebury defense, Plunket was up to the task as she stopped all three shots to earn the shutout. Late in the second half, Nora Tomlinson-Weintraub '10 netted her team-leading seventh goal of the season to help seal the Panthers' tenth victory of the season.

On Sunday, the Panthers played their "home" game on St. Michael's turf field because Dragone Field remained unplayable. Despite the new location the team produced the same result. This time, it was the Walker sisters who did the most damage, as the younger Lindsay Walker '10 scored two first-half goals to give the Panthers an early lead. Her older sister and Tri-Captain Kim Walker needed only a half-time break to score her third goal of the season and the team's third goal of the game.

The lone blemish on the weekend came in the game's waning minutes as Bowdoin's star Anne Zeigler ripped a shot from outside over the reach of Plunket to secure her league-high twelfth goal of the season. The Panthers defense once again played extremely well in limiting the league's best offense to just four shots on goal.

Plunket, as a goalie, has a strong vantage point with the entire game in front of her. As a result she has the ability to see the team's progress. "Everyone has really stepped up and committed to making the team better all season long," said the sophomore goalie. "Our strikers are on, the midfielders are controlling our speed of play and our backs have denied any serious attacking threats from other teams. I think our late season success will only give us more momentum as we move into the post-season."

Middlebury looks to ride that momentum as the team travels to Amherst to take on Colby in the NESCAC semifinals this Saturday, Nov. 4, at 1:30p.m.