Women's lacrosse snaps three-game losing streak

The Middlebury women’s lacrosse team turned the tides of a rough patch in the season with an exciting 13-9 win over the sixth-ranked Tufts University Jumbos. The win for Middlebury, ranked 16th, snapped two streaks: Middlebury’s three-game losing streak and Tufts’ nine-game winning streak. The Panther victory came at a crucial time for the team, with playoffs quickly approaching. Tufts is currently ranked fifth in the NESCAC, followed by Middlebury who is now ranked sixth in the NESCAC.

Tufts gained the lead early in the game, but the Panthers quickly demonstrated that they were not going to let yet another game slip away from them. Middlebury scored four straight goals to take a 5-2 lead over the Jumbos. Senior tri-captain Dana Heritage ’10 scored two of the four. In the final minutes of the first half, Middlebury scored once more and Tufts got two to reach halftime with a 6-4 score in Middlebury’s favor.

The two teams exchanged goals for the first five minutes of the second half. However, with the score at 8-6 Middlebury, the Panthers went on yet another four-goal run to take a decisive lead. This time the scoring was led by Chase Delano ’11 and Sally Ryan ’11, who each scored twice to give Middlebury a 12-6 lead over the Jumbos.

After scoring once, Delano left the field and reentered unguarded as a substitute. She was able to sneak in behind Tufts defense unnoticed and put the ball in the net for the Panthers. Ryan scored once off of a transition from defense to offense and again by converting a free position opportunity.

“In previous games, we have struggled to bring momentum to the game from the start,” said Delano. “We would usually finish the game with a solid scoring run, but we would run out of time before we could tie or win the game. Against Tufts, we brought our best game from the beginning and were able to keep the lead for the vast majority of the game. It looked like a different team.”

But Tufts did not give up, even in the final minutes of the game. They scored a few late goals to come within three of the Panthers. With the score at 12-9, Middlebury was able to gain possession of the ball and effect a stall to run down the clock. For the final three minutes, the Middlebury offense passed the ball around, beating Tufts defenders and securing the win.

The final exciting moment of the game came when Steph Gill ’12 cut out of the stall for a pass from Delano and, finding the goalie out of position, added one more insurance goal for Middlebury.

It was evident throughout the game that Middlebury’s offense and defense were playing their best games. The offense was connecting, feeding each other for goals throughout the game, while the defense was all over Tufts, shutting down their scoring opportunities.

Goalie Lily Nguyen ’12 was spectacular in the net. She made 14 saves on the game, all of which seemed to come at crucial moments.

She took control of the game in the defensive end, leaving the net at times to run the ball up the field and initiate the transition from the defensive end to the offensive end. At one point, she passed the ball to Steph Gill ’12 who fed the ball onto Heritage and Ryan, who then put the ball in the net. Fans on the sidelines were calling out for Nguyen to get the “fourth assist.”

Nguyen was named Player of the Week on Monday for her brilliant goal-tending in the weekend’s match; aided by the Panther defense, she limited the Jumbos to nine goals –– five below their season average per game.

“Our team really came together against Tufts and played with so much confidence and momentum,” added Delano. “Everyone had fun out there and it was so important to end our losing streak from the week before. Our alumni were also back and were cheering for us on the sidelines, which was really motivating.”

Middlebury hopes to gain another win at Skidmore today at 7 p.m.