The Middlebury women’s lacrosse team came out firing this past Saturday, March 7, to seal a 19-2 win over Connecticut College on Kohn Field. Coming off of their loss last week, the Panthers were focused and determined to respond.
“After our Tufts game we went over the film with our coaches and pinpointed a few areas that we needed to improve for our game against Conn. Our shooting percentage was not as high as we had hoped against Tufts, so that was definitely something we focused on in our practices. We also learned several new attack plays and sequences” Hollis Perticone ’18 said.
Middlebury’s high-powered offensive effort was balanced between 10 different players who all scored goals in the contest. Bridget Instrum ’16, Alli Sciaretta ’16, and Chrissy Ritter ’16 each scored three goals apiece while Perticone, Katie Ritter ’15, Bea Eppler ’17 and Delania Smith ’17 each contributed two goals to the win. In addition to her goals, Perticone had five draw controls and four caused turnovers.
Middlebury started the game trailing the Camels by one, but the Panthers fought back with an unassisted goal from Sciarretta to tie the game. From then on, Conn. had very little hope of a comeback. By the end of the first half, the Panthers were up 8-1. The squad relentlessly hit the gas on the offensive end of the field and managed to continue pumping goals past the Conn. defense.
Middlebury kept up the pressure for the remainder of the game, and the Panthers were able to score 11 more goals. Conn. College, on the other hand, managed to convert on only one more scoring opportunity on the day.
Panther goaltender Madeline Kinker ’16 recorded a pair of saves, while first-year Alex Freeman ’18 played well in her first collegiate game.
Going into the game ranked tenth nationally, the Panthers lived up to their ranking and displayed their ability and potential to dominate in the NESCAC. Saturday’s game was a good opportunity for the team to showcase its depth, as athletes from all classes rallied together to contribute to the win.
In addition to the efforts of the squad’s younger members, the team drew strength from their senior leadership. “Captains Katie Ritter and Cat Fowler ’15 did an amazing job stepping up this weekend to get us back on track after our loss to Tufts,” Kate Hodgson ’16 said.” As the only seniors on the team, they have an incredible amount of responsibility put on them and they prove time and time again that they are more than capable of leading our team.”
The Panthers look forward to keeping this momentum going in their upcoming matchup against Wesleyan on Saturday, March 14. Wesleyan sits near the bottom of the NESCAC with a record of 0-2 in conference play so far this season.
