Field Hockey Climbs to Top of NESCAC

Author: Andrew Zimmermann

In what amounted to a 1-1 week, the Middlebury field hockey team lost in heartbreaking fashion to Keene State in New Hampshire but kept pace with Williams and Bowdoin atop the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) with an impressive 3-0 win over Amherst. With the victory during Parents Weekend, Middlebury successfully avenged last year's loss to Amherst in the semifinals of the NESCAC championships.
It took both an overtime period and penalty shots for former Division II school Keene State to overtake Middlebury Wednesday. Last week, Coach Katharine DeLorenzo stressed the tough play of Keene State at home. With the win Wednesday, Keene remains undefeated at home and winless on the road. "It was a great contest," DeLorenzo said. "They have a terrific keeper and their specialty is their defense." Keene State saw a superb effort by its goalkeeper as Middlebury completely dominated the offensive play, churning out 37 scoring chances on 32 shots compared to just nine for Keene State.
Char Glessner '03.5 scored the Panthers' lone goal on a rebound. After a successful game against Amherst, Glessner currently sits second in the conference in goals scored with six in eight games. In goal, Jo Opot '05 had nine saves and kept Middlebury competitive in the penalty shoot-out, conceding three shots to the Keene State keeper's two.
Middlebury returned from New Hampshire exhausted but without losing ground in the all-important conference race. Entering the weekend game with Amherst the team was tied atop the NESCAC with a record of 3-1, outscoring its league opponents 16-5.
Saturday marked the first meeting between Amherst and Middlebury since the NESCAC championships a season ago. Since that semifinal meeting Middlebury has asserted itself as one of the contenders in the league while Amherst has fallen off to the tune of a 0-4 NESCAC record. In preparing for the game, DeLorenzo made sure to stress to her team to not overlook its rival from a year ago based on its record alone. "We prepared to make sure all the little things got done," she elaborated.
All those little things did get done as Middlebury shut out Amherst 3-0, with goals by Glessner, Becca Brakeley '04 and Ashley Pullen '05. Amherst came out with early pressure but Middlebury awoke and stopped the counterattacking style of Amherst before it could do any damage. "This is such a together group," said DeLorenzo of the team's resolve in the Amherst game. "We are calm and composed in and out of every game."
Middlebury now turns to Williams in a crucial mid-season match up with the Ephs in Williamstown, Mass. Both Middlebury and Williams share identical NESCAC records at 4-1. Among the challenges will be moving the ball upfield on a slow natural grass playing surface. Middlebury will also look to neutralize Williams' powerful scoring duo, Steff Noering and Tori Scott.
Middlebury's approach to the game will be the same as in all contests: rely on its speed, have fun and establish consistency in its performance. DeLorenzo feels at this point that Middlebury and its strong play will largely dictate the outcome of games and therefore the team's focus should be solely on itself and its play rather than it's opponents. With the season half over this Saturday's contest with Williams will be a crucial and telling one for Panther field hockey.