The women’s field hockey team (18-2) has earned their second consecutive and seventh overall trip to the NCAA Final Four after winning the regional final this past weekend Nov. 13-14. The third-ranked Panthers topped No. 5 Franklin and Marshall 2-0 in Saturday’s semi-final before beating No. 6 William Smith 3-0 in Sunday’s regional final.
“We held our ground firmly all weekend in the defensive end,” Head Coach Katharine DeLorenzo said. “Both teams were tough to break defensively, but the Middlebury offense was persistent and produced when it needed to.”
The Panther offense came out strong in Saturday’s game, with co-captain Jillian Green ’16 sending a hard shot towards the goal after only a few minutes of play, but a defensive save by Franklin and Marshall kept the game scoreless. The offense continued to put pressure on the Diplomats and was able to break through in the 11th minute. Co-Captain Bridget Instrum ’16 collected a loose ball just inside the circle and sent a hard shot toward the net that was redirected in front by Annie Leonard ’18. Franklin and Marshall almost tied the game on their lone shot of the opening half, but Panther goalie Emily Miller ’17 kicked the ball away to keep the lead. Middlebury continued to apply pressure, but the game held at 1-0 for the remainder of the half.
The Panthers came out blazing in the second half and grabbed a 2-0 lead in the 38th minute. Grace Jennings ’19 worked her way down the left side of the field and sent in a shot that deflected off a Diplomat defender into the goal for a 2-0 lead. Franklin and Marshall’s best scoring chance of the second half came in the 55th minute, but the shot by Mary Kate Olson went just wide of the net. With six minutes remaining, the Diplomats pulled their goalie in favor of an additional attacker, but they were unable to break through the strong Middlebury defense.
Middlebury held a 7-3 advantage in both shots and penalty corners. Miller made two saves for the Panthers, while Diplomat goalie Ili- anna Santangelo was credited with three stops.
With Saturday’s win, the Panthers met William Smith for their sixth consecutive NCAA regional final. Again, the Panthers came out strong, earning four penalty cor- ners in the first ten minutes of play, but were unable to capitalize on any of them. The Herons returned pressure, sending in a hard shot that was blocked by Panther goalie Miller in the 12th minute. The Panthers refused to back down and at the 13:11 mark scored on their fifth penalty corner. Leonard sent a shot in from the left side after the insertion, and Pam Schulman ’17, who was positioned on the near post, tapped in the ball for her 17th goal of the season. Middlebury played a man up following a five minute yellow card and was able to increase their lead on their ninth penalty corner of the game. Schulman dribbled the ball inside the circle and sent a pass to Leonard, who redi- rected the ball off a Heron defender into the cage for a 2-0 lead at 28:54. The Panthers took the 2-0 advantage into the halftime break.
William Smith had a great scoring chance early in the second half, but Miller was able to kick away the attempt on her left pad to keep the Herons scoreless. With four min- utes remaining in regulation, William Smith pulled their goalie in favor of an extra attacker. Just before the 67-minute mark, Leonard netted Middlebury’s third goal, and her 23rd of the season, off an assist from co-captain Anna Kenyon ’16. With that goal, Leonard moved into a fourth-place tie in the Middlebury single-season record books.
“Our cohesiveness as a team is allowing us to play at a very high level,” Leonard said of the week- end’s performance. “Moving forward we’re focusing on what we can do in practice to get better and stronger, and prepare ourselves for what’s to come.”
Middlebury held a 17-5 advantage in shots and a 13-7 edge in penalty corners. Miller made four saves in the Panther victory for her seventh shutout of the season, while Biz Chirco was credited with nine saves for the Herons.
“In this repeat national semi-final against TCNJ (The College of New Jersey), we’ll prepare again to be at our very best at both ends of the field,” DeLorenzo said looking towards the upcoming match. “The team is completely committed to the effort and will challenge each other on the practice field until we arrive for the final four.”
The Panthers will meet second-ranked The College of New Jersey on Saturday in a national semifinal at 2 p.m. on the campus of Washington & Lee in Lexington, Virginia. The other semifinal features top-ranked Bowdoin and fourth-ranked Ursinus playing at 11 a.m. The winners will meet in the championship game on Sunday at 1 p.m.
