WATERVILLE, Maine — Host Colby knocked off the Middlebury College women’s lacrosse team on Saturday, 9-6, a result that created a logjam on the top of the NESCAC standings.
Hamilton (11-4, 8-2 NESCAC) is now alone in first, while Middlebury, Colby and Trinity are all 11-3, 7-2 in the league. All three teams had games scheduled for Wednesday afternoon — the Panthers were set to host Williams (4-9, 1-8 NESCAC) — that will determine the order of the top four seeds in the NESCAC tournament. With wins over Hamilton and Trinity, Middlebury might have the inside track if all four teams end at 8-2.
Regardless, all four will host quarterfinals at noon on Saturday. The top seed will have the inside track on hosting the NESCAC final four the following weekend.
On this past Saturday, the host Mules scored the game’s final four goals to erase a 6-5 Panther lead. Middlebury took an early 3-1 lead on two Emma McDonagh goals and the first of two by Hollis Perticone, but two goals from Sasha Fritts helped the Mules forge a 5-5 halftime tie.
Bea Eppler’s second goal of the game 1:03 into the second half made it 6-5, but Middlebury failed to score again, and after the Mules tied the game Fritts netted the go-ahead score. Kelsey Bowen and Emilie Klein extended Colby’s lead.
Perticone caused three turnovers, while Jessie Yorke paced Middlebury with three ground balls and Sara DiCenso added three draw controls. For Colby, Fritts led all players with three tallies and Klein caused five turnovers.
Middlebury goalie Kate Furber made five saves, while Colby’s Izzy Scribano made nine stops.
The Panthers held edges of 19-17 in shots and 11-6 in draw controls, while Colby had an 14-11 advantage in ground balls. The Mules converted all three of their free-position attempts, while Middlebury netted two of seven.