Field hockey, led by Greer, downs Amherst 4-1

The 18th-ranked Panthers field hockey team continued their resurgence on Saturday with a 4-1 home victory over the NESCAC rival and 17th-ranked Lord Jeffs. The Middlebury win snapped Amherst’s five-game winning streak and came just four days after the team shut out Union 4-0, increasing their winning streak to four games.
Lauren Greer ’13 had three of Middlebury’s goals in Saturday’s match and assisted the other, while Becca Shaw ’12 saved 11 of the 12 shots fired at her, the only goal allowed coming off an Amherst penalty corner late in the game.
“The win was very emotional for all of us,” said Coach Katharine DeLorenzo. “We maximized our strengths on the offensive end and played a strong unit with purpose for most of the game”.
Surprisingly, the game was a defensive stalemate for much of the first half of play. Amherst (6-3) continuously reached their scoring zone but failed to get the ball passed Shaw’s excellent goaltending, while Middlebury (5-3) struggled to reach the scoring zone at all. The Panthers finally ended the stalemate with just seven minutes left in the half. The scoring play started when Charlotte Gardiner ’13 found Greer inside the scoring zone on a beautiful, field-spanning pass. Greer quickly found Elinore O’Brien ’14 wide open for the easy, un-savable score that gave the team a 1-0 lead going into the half.
From the beginning of the second-half whistle to the end of the game, Middlebury, led by Greer, showed the offensive dominance that made them such a highly ranked team going into the season.
“We used our new formation that spreads the field out and really accentuates people’s strengths,” said Greer of the Panthers’ offensive resurgence. Less than three minutes into the half she took full advantage of the new spread offensive, driving past all of the Lord Jeff defenders. With only the goalie to beat, Greer fired a shot from the left side that found the upper right corner of the net for the unassisted goal, giving Middlebury a 2-0 lead. Nine minutes later Greer put home her second goal of the game off a rebound that bounced off the Amherst goalie’s pads. She would score her third goal in similar fashion, finishing off another successful Panther attack and giving the team a 4-0 advantage with less than eight minutes left to play.
Greer earned NESCAC Player of the Week honors for her stellar contributions to the Panthers’ win over Amhersst.
By the time the Lord Jeffs finally got on the scoreboard, it was too late for a comeback, as the surging Panthers sealed their fourth victory in a row 4-1. Despite the difference in score, however, the Lord Jeffs held a 12-7 shot advantage as well as a 10-6 penalty corner advantage, making the victory a testament to Shaw’s stellar performance in goal as well as of Middlebury’s ability to take advantage of every shot they are given. 
“Now that we know we are capable of playing that kind of field hockey, the possibilities are endless,” Greer said after the game. “I’m confident that the kind of energy we created Saturday will carry us through the rest of the season.” The Panthers face a series of road games before returning to Kohn Field the week of Homecoming to take on St. Lawrence on Wednesday and Bates on Homecoming Saturday.