HARTFORD, Conn. — The Middlebury College women’s hockey team opened its season this past weekend with a pair of wins at NESCAC rival Trinity, 4-0 on Saturday and 4-1 on Sunday.
The Panthers, No. 5 in the NCAA Division III preseason rankings, will host the annual Panther-Cardinal classic this weekend. The Panthers will play Elmira at 3 p.m. on Saturday, with Plattsburgh and Adrian to meet at 6 p.m. The tournament consolation and final are set for Sunday at 2 and 5 p.m., respectively.
On this past Saturday Panther freshman forward Katie Hargrave scored twice in the Panthers’ 4-0 victory at Trinity.  
Senior defender Jenna Marotta gave the Panthers the lead with a first-period power-play goal. She scored on a wrist shot from just outside the left face-off circle, with sophomores Alexis Ryan and Madie Leidt assisting. 
The Panthers then scored three times in the second period, including Hargrave’s pair, and another from freshman forward Jenna Letterie, who also picked up an a assist. Leidt helped set up Letterie’s goal.  
Trinity goalie Kai-Lilly Karpman made 32 saves, and Panther sophomore Anna Goldstein stopped all 24 Bantam shots.
On Friday the Panthers scored three times in the third period to snap a 1-1 tie. Trinity’s Olivia White gave her team the lead at 6:09 of the second when her centering pass deflected in off Middlebury goalie Lin Han’s skate. Panther Meghan Keating’s first career goal came about eight minutes later and tied the score; she deflected home a Ryan shot.  
Hargrave tipped in a Leidt feed to give the Panthers the lead in the third period, and Katarina Shuchuk took advantage of a Bantam miscue to poke the puck home and make it 3-1. Marotta added the final goal with a shot from the point through traffic.
Han made 13 saves for Middlebury, while Karpman had 34 stops for the Bantams.