MIDDLEBURY — The Middlebury College women’s soccer team knocked off two previously unbeaten and ranked teams last week to improve to 5-0 for the first time since 2012.
The Panthers, who were ranked No. 9 in last week’s NCAA Division III poll, will host Bowdoin at 11 a.m. on Saturday.
On this past Saturday the Panthers toppled visiting Amherst then ranked No. 20, 3-1.
Amherst (4-1) got on the board 12:31 into the game when Caleigh Plant knocked in Alexa Juarez’s crossing pass. The Mammoths nearly went up 2-0 less than a minute later, but Panther keeper Ursula Alwang (eight saves) tipped Rubii Tamen’s blast from long distance off the crossbar.
Middlebury evened the game midway through the half when Sabrina Glaser lofted a shot from 25 yards out on the left side over the head of Amherst goalie Erica Sanders. Sanders made six saves before being replaced by Antonia Tammaro, who made one stop.
The Panthers went on top 41 seconds into the second half when Glaser struck again. Eliza Robinson played a long pass up to Glaser in the left side of the box. Glaser took one touch before sending the ball low into the far corner.
Shortly afterward Panther Eliza Van Voorhis’ 22-yard shot hit the bottom of the crossbar and bounced straight down, but not in.
In the 65th minute Ellie Greenberg made it 3-1. Talia Rubino played a ball from the left into the box that bounced to Greenberg alone out front, and she then knocked it into the far side.
Amherst’s best chance to cut into the lead came in the 81st minute, when Natalie Landau’s shot from 15 yards out hit the right post. The Mammoths held a 19-18 shots advantage that they padded in the late going, and led 7-2 in penalty kicks. 
On the previous Wednesday the Panthers dispatched then No. 14 Plattsburgh, 3-0, outshooting the Cardinals, 16-6. Van Voorhis headed in a Robinson cross from the right side to give Middlebury the lead at 24:01, and late in the half Leah Salzman disrupted a Cardinal clear on the left side and drilled a long shot into the upper right corner. In the second half Cate Shellenback converted from the top of the Cardinal box for her first college goal.
Sachi Howson and Alwang shared time and each made two saves for Middlebury. Taylor Adams made six saves for Plattsburgh (4-1).