MIDDLEBURY — The Middlebury College women’s soccer team won two of three recent games to improve to 6-4, 2-3 in NESCAC play. The Panthers are on the road this weekend at league foes Trinity and Hamilton.
On Oct. 1, Middlebury picked up a 4-0 non-conference win at Skidmore. Jamie Soroka netted her own rebound after receiving a through ball from Adrianna Gildner as the Panthers took an early lead. Hannah Robinson made it 2-0 in the 20th minute with a strike from 25 yards away that dipped just under the crossbar.
Robinson assisted Middlebury’s final goal of the half, moving into the box from the right side and feeding Emma Shumway, who connected from eight yards out. Alissa Huntington added the final Panther goal in the second half, also with a helper from Robinson.
Thoroughbred goalkeeper Deirdre Walsh made four saves, and Panther goalie Emily Eslinger stopped three shots.
On a rainy Saturday, Middlebury edged visiting league foe Tufts, 1-0, on a goal in the 77th minute by Claire Nishioka. The Jumbos dropped to 5-2-1, 2-2-1 in NESCAC.
Scoring chances were few on the slippery field, but with a little more than 14 minutes left, Robinson gained possession at midfield, worked down the right side and sent a cross that skidded to Nishioka on the left side about 10 yards out. Nishioka laced a shot into the lower right corner at 76:15.
Tufts goalie Eileen McGarry made three saves, including an earlier diving stop on Nishioka, and Eslinger stopped one shot as the Panthers outshot the Jumbos, 15-3.
On Tuesday, visiting St. Lawrence improved to 8-4 by besting Middlebury, 3-1. The Panthers lost despite outshooting the Saints, 17-11. SLU’s Kaleigh White scored two goals in a 4:31 span in the first half to spark her team.
Middlebury scored its only goal 6:43 into the contest. Carter Talgo netted the rebound of a Gildner cross from the right side that hit a defender’s back and went off the far post. 
White’s first goal came when she broke in alone on Eslinger. White struck again at 38:44, carrying the ball 25 yards into the box and tucking a 15-yard shot home off the right post from the left side.
St. Lawrence increased its lead to 3-1 3:34 into the second half with its third goal in as many shots. On a set piece from 30 yards out, Caroline Crandall made a short pass to Emily DePoy, who shot over the wall and into the top right corner of the net.
Saint goalie Kelsey West made six saves, while Eslinger made two stops in suffering her first career loss for the Panthers.