Field Hockey Hangs Six Goals on Wesleyan

Saturday marked another shutout this past weekend for the Middlebury Field Hockey team as they defeated the 9th ranked Wesleyan Cardinals at home on Peter Kohn Field.  The Panthers finished out their final regular season game with a 6-0 victory over the Cardinals, boosting their record to an impressive 14-1 this season and making them first in the NESCAC.

Bridget Instrum ’16 scored three goals on Saturday accompanied by two from Cat Fowler ’15 and one by Hollis Perticone ’18.
Fowler scored the first two of the day, firing up her teammates just six minutes into play with an unassisted goal off of a penalty stroke.  Fowler scored her next goal five minutes later, tapping the ball in off of an initial shot by Anne Entwisle ’15.

The Panthers returned to the field determined to secure a victory after halftime.  Instrum brought out a show-stopping performance, scoring the following three goals to earn her first hat trick of the season.  Instrum’s first goal came 47 minutes into play and was scored unassisted after a battle over the ball in the Cardinals goal area.  Anna Kenyon ’16 assisted Instrum six minutes later for her second goal.  Unassisted, Instrum scored her third goal of the game tapping the ball in from two yards out at the 59 minute mark.

Perticone scored the final goal of the game with just 35 seconds left to play. Coming from right field, Fowler passed the ball to Perticone who tapped the ball into the back of the goal, bringing the final score to a remarkable 6-0 win for the Panthers.

Wesleyan was an aggressive and physical team; however, they struggled to counter Middlebury’s offensive success and found themselves defending the Panthers’ attack for a majority of the game.  Wesleyan had six shots on net but could not get past Middlebury goalie Emily Knapp ’15.  The Panthers had 19 attempts on goal and were able to capitalize on six of them.

When asked what most attributed to the success on offense, Captain Cat Fowler credited the Panthers’ possession game.
“We had the ball for a majority of the game and very rarely found ourselves in our own defensive circle,” Fowler stated.

Fowler summarized the Cardinals’ attack as having good speed among their forwards; however, their play was no match for the unrelenting Panthers.

Wesleyan will host their final regular season game against Connecticut College this week. The Panthers will earn the first seed for the NESCAC tournament where they will host a Quarterfinals taking place on Nov. 1.  The Panthers are ambitious and determined, setting their sights on a NESCAC Tournament victory and great success in later NCAA tournament play.