BEVERLY, Mass. — The Middlebury College women’s hockey team swept two non-league Massachusetts teams this past weekend to improve to 8-3-1.
The Panthers, 4-1-1 in NESCAC play and ranked No. 7 last week in NCAA Division III, return to league action this weekend, when they host Bowdoin at 7 p.m. on Friday and 3 p.m. on Saturday.
On Saturday the Panthers knocked off then No. 10 Endicott, 5-0, as Panther goalie Lin Han worked a 16-save shutout, her third of the season. The 13-1-1 Gulls suffered their first loss.
Elizabeth Wulf gave the Panthers the lead 3:40 into the contest by knocking in a Katherine Jackson rebound. Wulf has recorded a point in each of the past six games, including four goals and four assists.
Madie Leidt made it 2-0 late in the second period. She carried the puck into the left side of the Endicott zone, cut across the high slot and beat Gull goalie Vendela Jonsson (28 saves) from the right circle.
The Panthers scored twice in the opening two minutes of the third period. Leidt wristed a shot in from the left circle 54 seconds into the new period and Maddie Winslow converted a breakaway after a lead pass from Janka Hlinka. Jackson closed out the scoring with 4:23 remaining.
On Friday Jessica Young recorded three points and Panther goalie Julia Neuburger stopped 19 shots she faced as the Panthers defeated host UMass-Boston, 5-0. The Beacons fell to 4-8-4).
Winslow gave the Panthers the lead with a shorthanded goal at 12:17 of the first. Young carried the puck up the left wing, circled the net, and fed Winslow at the near post. Late in the period Haley LaFontaine wristed a shot from the top of the left circle through traffic for a two-goal lead.
Middlebury scored twice in the final 3:45 of the second period. Young backhanded in a rebound at 16:15, and in the final minute, Wulf poked in the rebound of an Anna Zumwinkle shot from the point. Young added a power-play goal in the third period. Beacon goalie Rachel Myette made 35 stops as the Panthers outshot UMass-Boston, 40-19.