MIDDLEBURY — The Middlebury College women’s lacrosse team improved its NESCAC record this past weekend with victories over league rivals — Tufts on the road Saturday and Hamilton at home Sunday.
Middlebury outscored No. 6 Tufts (11-3, 7-2) 10-1 in the second half on its way to a 15-10 win on Saturday afternoon. The eighth-ranked Panthers.
Tufts came out strong, taking a 5-1 lead at 15:24 of the first half. Emily Barnard and Georgia Carroll answered for the Panthers to make it 5-3, but Courtney Grygiel put the hosts up 6-3 at 11:01.
Following a free-position goal by Hollis Perticone, the Jumbos rattled off three-straight goals for a 9-4 lead. Panther Emma McDonagh scored the final goal of the half on a free-position opportunity for Middlebury, cutting the deficit to 9-5 at the intermission.
The visitors came out charging in the second half, scoring the first six goals for an 11-9 lead at 14:27. McDonagh controlled the first 15 minutes, figuring in five of the six goals, netting three herself.
Tufts broke up the run with 13:23 remaining when Emily Garnes scored to cut the lead to one.
The Panthers quickly responded by netting the final four tallies of the game. Carroll made it 12-10, before Kate Zecca converted a free position; then Jenna McNicholas and Perticone scored the final two goals to secure the 15-10 win.
McDonagh led all players with a career-best five goals and three assists. Carroll scored three times, while Barnard and Zecca each had two goals and a helper. Perticone finished with two goals, two assists and six draw controls. Emma Johns caused three turnovers and picked up three ground balls in the victory, while Addy Mitchell earned five ground balls. Julia Keith made five saves to pick up the win.
Caroline Nowak paced the Jumbos with three goals, Audrey Evers made five saves in goal.
On Sunday in Middlebury, the Panthers broke open a 13-10 game by scoring the next seven goals en route to a 20-11 win over Hamilton (5-9, 3-7). The Panthers improved their record to 12-2, 8-1 in NESCAC.
With Sunday’s game tied at 3-3, Middlebury scored four-straight goals to go on top 7-3 with 16:19 remaining in the first half. Perticone and McDonagh converted free-position shots, while Zecca and McNicholas netted the other two tallies.
Hamilton answered by scoring six of the game’s next eight goals, tying the game at 9-9.
McDonagh and Murphy gave the home team a 13-9 advantage in the second half, before Darby Philbrick converted a free-position shot for the Continentals, making the score 13-10 with 20:03 left to play.
Middlebury controlled the game from that point forward, netting the next seven goals for a 20-10 lead with 4:41 remaining.
Carroll finished with three goals and two assists to pace the home team, while McDonagh earned three goals with a helper. Goalie Julia Keith earned the win with a pair of saves in the first half, while Kate Furber (three saves) and Alex Freedman (one save) saw second-half action.
Thee Panthers were set to visit Williams on Wednesday afternoon in their regular season finale. Results in that game and others will determine who Middlebury will host in a Saturday NESCAC quarterfinal.