MIDDLEBURY — The Middlebury College women’s hockey team coasted to a pair of home NESCAC wins this past weekend before hitting on the road on Tuesday to tie Norwich, the No. 1 team in NCAA Division III.
At 14-4-2 and 10-1-1 in NESCAC play, the Panthers are ranked No. 4 in NCAA D-III and remain in first place in the league, a half-game ahead of No. 7 Connecticut (9-1-2 NESCAC). The Panthers visit league rival Colby for two games this weekend.
On this past weekend the Panthers swept visiting Wesleyan, 4-0 on Saturday and 3-0 on Sunday. The Cardinals dropped to 5-11-4, 1-7-4 NESCAC.
On Saturday the Panthers scored on all three of their power plays and outshot the Cardinals by 47-11. They took the lead in the first on a Jessica Young power-play goal assisted by Jenna Marotta, and then scored twice in the second. Sydney Portner lifted a loose puck in the slot home at 8:25, and at 13:08 Anna Zumwinkle’s shot from the left point made it 3-0. Elizabeth Wulf capped the scoring with 1:19 left in the game by blasting home a Meghan Keating rebound from the left circle.
Middlebury goalie Anna Goldstein made 11 saves for her second shutout and the Panthers’ ninth of the season, while Allegra Grant stopped 43 shots for Wesleyan.
On Friday goalie Julia Neuberger worked a 15-save shutout in the Panthers’ 3-0 win. Young’s first-period power-play goal made it 1-0, but Grant (50 saves) held the Panthers off until the third, when Janka Hlinka converted a pass from a spinning Maddie Winslow at 8:15 and Portner found the net from the right circle at 18:43.
On Tuesday the Panthers and 19-1-3 Cadets skated to a 2-2 tie. Middlebury took a 2-0 first-period lead, but the Cadets scored once in the second and then equalized with 1:17 left in the third period, as Middlebury and the Cadets skated to a 2-2 overtime tie Tuesday in Northfield, Vermont. The fourth-ranked Panthers (12-4-2) return to NESCAC play this weekend, traveling to Maine for a two-game series at Colby starting on Friday.
The Panthers took a 1-0 lead 5:09 into the contest, when Jenna Marotta’s shot from the point eluded traffic and got past Cadet goalie Laurie King (21 saves). Late in the period Young made it 2-0 with an end-to-end rush.
In the second period, the Cadets and took advantage of one of five power plays. With 3:13 on the clock Bryn Labbe flipped in her own rebound of a shot off the post.
Seven minutes into the third period Panther Katherine Jackson hit the post from the slot. A minute later Panther goalie Lin Han (27 saves) smothered a Sophie McGovern redirection from the doorstep. Sarah Schwenzfeier got the equalizer by burying a rebound. Late in OT King denied Wulf to preserve the tie.