MIDDLEBURY — The Middlebury College women’s soccer team won two NESCAC games this past weekend to improve to 7-0, 4-0 in league play, the team’s best start since 2009. The Panthers entered this week ranked No. 9 in NCAA Division III and will visit Colby on Saturday.
On this past Saturday the Panthers rolled past visiting Bowdoin, 3-1, dropping the Polar Bears to 2-3-1, 1-3 NESCAC.
Middlebury scored 3:36 after the opening kickoff, when Alex Barber settled an Eliza Van Voorhis cross from the left side put a hard shot into the net off a Bowdoin defender. At 11:41 Sabrina Glaser made it 2-0 when Polar Bear goalie Sabrina Albanese with a blast from 20 yards out, her team-leading fourth goal of the fall. With 4.4 seconds left in the half Simone Ameer made it 3-0 by bending a shot from the left side inside the far post.
The Polar Bears spoiled Middlebury’s bid for a shutout in the closing seconds, when Ali Dougal’s shot bounced off a defender and rolled into the net. Panther goalie Ursula Alwang made four saves, while two Bowdoin keepers combined for six stops. Middlebury outshot Bowdoin, 18-10.
On Sunday the Panthers won at Hamilton, 1-0, on a Leah Salzman goal with 13:34 to go. Salzman ran onto a long clear by a Panther defender and rolled a shot just inside the left post.
The game was tight, and Middlebury outshot Hamilton by 18-17 as the Continentals fell to 3-2-1, 1-2 NESCAC. Alwang and Hamilton goalie Rachel Pike each made seven saves.