AMHERST, Mass. – Senior forward Katie George scored two goals to lift Middlebury College to a 4-1 win over the Amherst College field hockey team in the quarterfinals of the NESCAC Championship on Saturday at Kohn Field.
The five-time defending national champion Panthers, the top seed in the NESCAC Tournament, remained unbeaten this season at 17-0, and advanced to Sunday's championship game.
The seventh-seeded Mammoths fell to 10-7 and will await Sunday night's NCAA Tournament selections to see if their season will continue. The seven at-large berths to the tournament will be announced on Sunday (Nov. 5) at 10:30 p.m. on NCAA.com. The Mammoths entered the weekend ranked fifth in Region II, which is one of six regions across the country.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS:
* The Panthers got on the board in the final seconds of the first quarter. Junior forward Caroline Segal sent the ball through traffic and it ended up finding George behind the defense. George scored her 18th goal of the season to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead.
* George struck again for the Panthers late in the second quarter, capitalizing on a penalty corner opportunity. Senior forward Audrey Lazar had her initial shot saved by Amherst first-year goalie
Grace Puchalski but George was there to knock in the rebound for her second goal of the game.
* The Panthers took advantage of two more penalty corners in the third quarter. After a shot by junior midfielder Lilly Branka hit the post, Segal was there for the rebound to tip in her 11th goal of the season to give Middlebury a 3-0 lead. In the final minute of the third quarter, Middlebury converted another penalty corner into a goal as junior forward Hanna Medwar scored her fifth of the season.
* The Mammoths broke through on a penalty corner of their own in the final seconds of the third quarter. Junior back
Kate Smith inserted to the stick stop of sophomore midfielder
Anna Aiello, leaving the ball for senior forward
Muffie Mazambani to blast a shot for her 15th goal of the season.
BY THE NUMBERS:
* Senior K.K. Newton earned the win in goal with two saves for the Panthers, while Puchalski stopped six shots for the Mammoths as Middlebury had a 16-5 advantage in shots and a 10-3 advantage in shots on goal.
* Middlebury tallied nine penalty corners to four for Amherst, with four of the five goals in the contest coming on penalty corners.
