Field hockey falls in NESCAC quarterfinals

After finishing up their regular season with a 2-1 overtime victory at Williams for their ninth straight win, Middlebury (11-4) was defeated by the sixth-seeded Trinity Bantams (9-6) 3-2 at Kohn Field in the opening round of the NESCAC tournament, eliminating the Panthers from the tournament in a game that truly came down to the last seconds of play.
The game played out very much like the two teams’ last meeting, in which Middlebury was able to earn a 4-3 overtime victory over the Bantams in their third game of the season. The Panthers’ newly established defensive dominance –– one which allowed only four goals and earned five shutouts during the nine-game win streak –– continued throughout the first half of the playoff match-up, holding Trinity goalless in the period. The Bantams struggled to reach their scoring zone at all, as Middlebury contested the ball heavily every time they crossed midfield.
Lauren Greer ’13, the Panthers offensive standout and leading scorer, earned her 16th goal of the season and the only score of the first half as she was able to put away her own rebound 13 minutes into the period, giving the Panthers a 1-0 lead going into halftime.
The lead would not last long into the second half. Trinity evened the score just three minutes into the second period of play as Robyn Williams finished off a Bantam penalty corner with a smash that whizzed by goalie Becca Shaw ’12 and found the back of the Panther net. The game returned to a defensive stalemate for much of the second period, with strong midfield and defensive play not allowing either side to put together a good attack. However, with just 15 minutes remaining in the quarterfinal match-up, both offenses came alive, scoring three goals between the teams in less than two and half minutes in one of the more exciting final minutes of play that the Panthers had seen all season.
It all began with a Bantam score at the 58-minute mark. Peyson Sword was able to net her ninth goal of the season by firing a shot that found the right side of the net after a slew of Middlebury defenders and Shaw had deterred a Trinity offensive flurry, giving the visitors the 2-1 lead. The lead would last for just over a minute, as Greer scored her 17th goal of the season off of a Panther’s penalty corner injected by Clara St. Germain ’13 and assisted by Margeret Souther ’13, evening the score for the second time of the match-up.
A minute and a half later the Bantams ended the offensive production with a goal that would eventually become the game winner. Caroline Snite found herself wide open from twelve yards out after a group of Panther defenders broke up a Trinity scoring drive, burying the shot into the back of the cage to give Trinity the 3-2 lead that ended the game and the tournament for the Panthers.
With no time remaining on the clock, the Panthers were given two chances to send the game into overtime on penalty corners, failing both times to find the back of the net due in large part to tough Trinity defense in their scoring zone.
The Bantams go on to play Tufts in the semifinals of the NESCAC tournament, while Middlebury must now wait until Nov. 7th to see if their season will continue with a bid to the National tournament.