MIDDLEBURY — The Middlebury College women’s lacrosse team appears to be picking up where it left off in 2024.

And in 2023 and 2022.

PANTHERS CAROLINE ADAMS, left, and Emma McCann battle two Bobcat players for a draw during the Middlebury women’s lacrosse team’s 18-1 win over visiting Bates on Saturday.
Independent photo/Steve James

Coach Kate Livesay’s program won the NCAA Division III championship in each of those years, and hasn’t lost a game since May of 2022.

This year, the top-ranked Panthers are 6-0, and their latest victims were NESCAC rival Bates on Saturday, 18-1 at home, and No. 4 ranked Gettysburg on Monday in Pennsylvania, 15-6. That nine-goal margin equals another road win, at Amherst in the team’s March 1 opener, for Middlebury’s smallest margin of victory so far this season.

After Saturday’s triumph over Bates, Livesay said she’s been happy with how the team is progressing and was pleased with their effort vs. the Bobcats.

“I feel like we have a lot of puzzle pieces to put together, and we’ve been working on that through the first part of the season,” she said. “So it feels good. There are a lot of bright spots.”

Bates wouldn’t argue that point. The Bobcats stepped onto the Panthers’ Kohn Field on Saturday with a 5-1 record, 2-0 in NESCAC play.

And after 15 minutes of pla,y the game was all but over.

The Panthers not only had scored seven unanswered goals with dazzling ball movement and individual quickness, they also pressured the Bobcats all over the field and forced eight turnovers. And the Panthers hadn’t allowed a shot on their goalie, Gina Driscoll.

About four minutes into the second period, Driscoll made her first save, denying Bobcat Caroline Taggart. By then it was 9-0. Shortly afterward, Panther senior attacker Hope Shue — who recently became the program’s all-time leading scorer — buried a free-position shot to make it 10-0. The rest of the game was played on the running-time mercy rule, with Livesay subbing freely.

Livesay was particularly happy with the Panthers’ ball movement and offensive balance — 12 Panthers scored. Shue led with three goals and an assist; and Maddie Ackerman, Caroline Adams (assist), Kate Motley and Anna Spehr scored two goals apiece.

Livesay said the offense is incorporating a new starter, first-year Siobhan Colin, and she and the entire attack appeared to take a step forward on Saturday in their speed of play, structure and ball movement.

“That was really good today,” she said. “When she is getting more comfortable there, we all play better.”

PANTHER GOALIE GINA Driscoll stretches out to make a first-half save during the Middlebury women’s lacrosse team’s 18-1 win over visiting Bates on Saturday.
Independent photo/Steve James

Livesay also talked about the ball movement and number of offensive weapons.

“That is what we’re finding is the true strength of this team — their ability to feed and find each other,” she said. “With the balance it’s tough to cover everyone.”

Livesay is still tinkering with her midfield after graduating two starters. One decision that’s worked is moving senior Kelcey Dion there from attack.

“Kelcey is a natural fit there. She’s super smart. But trying to find another middie to rotate with her has been a little more challenging,” Livesay said.

That said, the Panthers made Bates work hard to move the ball through the midfield. The Bobcats often chewed up half the shot clock to get the ball into the attacking end, and the Bobcats finished with 17 turnovers to the Panthers’ 11.

Middlebury had little trouble bolting up the field, either by passing or just letting junior middie Caroline Messer — or at times junior Haley Hamilton or freshman Emma McCann or one of the defenders — handle the task singlehandedly. Defender Maddie Paylor in particular was effective bursting out of the back with the ball.

“We have a lot of speed, and we’re trying to use different people, like you saw, to push it,” Livesay said.

PANTHER JUNIOR SKYLAR Lach tucks the ball in the lower right corner to make it 5-0 during the Middlebury women’s lacrosse team’s 18-1 win over visiting Bates on Saturday.
Independent photo/Steve James

In the first quarter, Middlebury opened the scoring 3:21 in, when Anna Spehr fired a free-position shot into the lower left corner. About two minutes later, Adams found a seam in the Bates zone, dodged in, and hit the side netting to make it 2-0.

About a minute after that score, Colin tucked a shot inside the far post from the right side, and soon afterward senior attacker Maggie Coughlin tossed a pass from Adams inside the left post to make it 4-0. With six minutes gone Coughlin found Skylar Lach bolting toward the crease and fed her for a bang-bang conversion to make it 5-0. At 5:09, Shue dodged in to make it 6-0, and Motley capped the quarter at 1:41 to go with a bullet into the left side, with an assist from Colin.

Bobcat Caitlyn Quinn answered the question of whether Bates would score with six seconds left in the first half. Quinn tossed a long, hard shot from the top of the fan into the lower left corner.

That was the only one of three shots on goal that Driscoll faced. Elizabeth Savage took over in the Panther goal in the second half and stopped the other three shots on net the Middlebury defense permitted.

Meanwhile, the Panthers put 26 shots on target. Bates goalie Raegan White held up well in the first half, making seven saves while allowing 10 goals. Bates’s second-half goalie made one save. The Panthers also earned edges of 17-11 in ground balls and 15-7 in draw controls.

After the Bates game, Livesay said the Panthers were looking forward to the challenges of playing No. 4 Gettysburg on Monday and No. 12 The College of New Jersey on Wednesday (after deadline for this issue), as well as other good NESCAC teams.

“Today, everyone was playing well, which was great. So we’ll just see when we play different competition whether we can maintain that level of execution across the board,” she said. “So we’re excited.”

MIDDLEBURY COLLEGE FIRST-YEAR player Macy Sweeney carries the ball up the field along with a wave of teammates during the Panthers’ 18-1 win over visiting Bates on Saturday.
Independent photo/Steve James

FALLING BEHIND HEARLY

Gettysburg was probably excited to see the Panthers show up, at least during the first 3:55 of the game. That’s when the Bullets bolted to a 3-0 lead on nifty goals from Sophie Smith, Lauren O’Connell and Julie Breedveld.

The Bullets were less thrilled to see the Panthers run off the game’s next eight goals.

Adams got things going with a cross-body shot from the right side with 6:36 remaining in the first period. Just 36 seconds later, Coughlin converted a behind-the-net pass from Adams. After another 37 seconds, Shue took a pass from Coughlin, cut past two defenders and found the upper left corner. With 1:33 remaining in the period, Adams whipped home a free position, and Middlebury led, 4-3.

HOPE SHUE, A senior attacker on the Middlebury College women’s lacrosse team, goes after a ground ball during the Panthers’ 18-1 win over visiting Bates on Saturday.
Independent photo/Steve James

Scoring slowed in the second period, but Adams added two more strikes, Shue scored once, and it was 7-3 at the half. Early in the third period, Coughlin scooped up a loose ball and scored to complete the 8-0 run. Gettysburg’s Breedveld cut it to 8-4 quickly, but the Panthers steadily pulled away.

Adams led with five goals and an assist, Shue scored four with two assists, Coughlin scored three goals and assisted two, Lach scored twice, and Sophia Lee chipped in one goal. Adams controlled seven draws, and Shue controlled four as Middlebury earned a 14-11 advantage in that stat. Middlebury also had a 22-16 edge in ground balls, with Paylor, Kylie Wilson, Driscoll and Motley scooping three apiece. Driscoll made eight saves, and Juliette deVarenne made nine for the Bullets.