MIDDLEBURY — The Middlebury College women’s lacrosse team scored four times vs. visiting Rensselaer in the opening two minutes on Tuesday and held the Engineers scoreless over the final 41:21 in a 17-3 victory.
The 5-0 Panthers, ranked No. 1 in NCAA Division III, will visit Bowdoin on Saturday before a trip south to face perennial powers Franklin & Marshall and The College of New Jersey early next week. RPI dropped to 2-4.
On Tuesday, Emma McDonagh scored 17 seconds into the game, and two goals from Sara DiCenso and one from Casey O’Neill made it 4-0 with 1:54 gone. RPI’s Allie Claroni and Middlebury’s Jenna McNicholas next traded two goals apiece, and the Panthers stretched the lead to 8-2 before RPI’s final goal at 11:21 of the first half made it 8-3.
O’Neill and Henley Hall added goals for the Panthers to make it 10-3 at the break, and Middlebury tacked on seven more scores in the second half.
O’Neill paced the Panthers with three goals, while McDonagh, DiCenso, McNicholas and Emily Barnard each scored twice. Hollis Perticone controlled five draws and picked up three ground balls, Emma Johns earned three ground balls, while Mary O’Connell controlled three draws. Panther goalie Julia Keith made two saves and allowed three goals in the first half, while Alex Freedman made two second-half stops.
Claroni’s two goals led RPI. Two Engineer goalies combined for eight saves.