ESSEX — Host Essex rallied past the Middlebury Union High School girls’ hockey team on Saturday, 3-1, in a battle of Division I contenders.
The result, the Tigers’ first loss, left Essex (9-1), MUHS (7-1-1) and Rutland (10-1-1 after winning on Saturday) in a three-way duel for the top spot, with no other team close.
The Hornets’ three-goal third-period, which erased a 1-0 Tiger lead, also snapped the Tigers’ five-game shutout streak.
MUHS took the lead in the first period on a Lexi Bartlett goal, set up by Julia Carone. That was all the Tigers got past Essex goalie Lindsay Hallowell (22 saves) however.
MUHS goalie Rowan Hendy (20 saves) and the Tiger defense kept Essex off the boards until Kaitlyn Butkus scored the tying goal 2:30 into the third period.
Olivia Miller-Johnson backhanded home the go-ahead score with just under five minutes to go, and the Hornets added an empty-net goal.