The fifth-ranked Middlebury women's lacrosse team jumped out to an 11-0 halftime lead and cruised to a 14-6 NESCAC victory over host Bates College on Saturday afternoon at Campus Avenue Field. The Panthers (1-0, 1-0 NESCAC) received six goals and two assists from Chase Delano, including four goals in the first 11 minutes of the game as Middlebury quickly seized a commanding lead. Dana Heritage added a goal and four assists, three of them on Delano goals, for Middlebury, while Lindsay Winstead and Sally Ryan scored two goals apiece.

Caroline Thomas scored four goals with one assist for Bates (1-1, 0-1 NESCAC), which regrouped for a much improved effort in the second half, outscoring Middlebury 6-2 in the final 26 minutes of the game after the Panthers extended their lead to 12-0 early in the period, on Delano's sixth goal. Morgan Maciewicz added two goals and an assist for the host Bobcats.

Bates goalie Mara Krueger made 19 saves, while Blair Bowie made 10 against four goals allowed for Middlebury. Lily Nguyen played the final 3:40 between the pipes for the Panthers and surrendered two goals while making one save.

Ryan scored both of her two goals in the opening 11:20 of the first half, her second one an unassisted tally that put Middlebury ahead 6-0 with 18:40 still to play in the half. Delano found Elizabeth Garry and Taylor Brown for two more goals, and Lindsay McBride assisted on both of Winstead's goals, as the Panthers extended the lead to 10-0. Delano put an exclamation point on the outburst with her fifth goal, which made it 11-0 with only 2 seconds left to play in the period.

Delano's sixth goal made it 12-0, but Bates got on the board in the 36th minute when Avery Pierce dished to Thomas for the finish on a free-position attempt for the Bobcats. Thomas assisted Maciewicz two minutes later, then scored back-to-back unassisted goals to make it 14-4. Bates added goals in the final minute by Maciewicz and Thomas.