Middlebury clinched the top seed for the upcoming NESCAC Tournament with a 4-1 road win at Williams on Sunday afternoon. The Panthers (15-5-2, 12-2-2) will host a quarterfinal game on February 23rd and have earned the right to host the championship weekend on March 2nd and 3rd with a quarterfinal win. Middlebury wraps up its regular season this week with a home game Tuesday vs. Norwich and a road contest at Elmira on Saturday.
Williams took a 1-0 lead 4:15 into the contest when Cristina Bravi registered an unassisted goal after beating her defender.
Middlebury tied the game 6:22 into the second period when Heather Marrison scored to make it 1-1. Her shot from the point made its way through traffic past Eph keeper Chloe Billadeau (45 saves).
The Panthers made it a 2-1 game with a power play goal at the 13:33 mark. After a face-off win, Molly Downey found teammate Katie Sullivan, who sent a high shot over Billadeau's right shoulder.
The lead grew to 3-1 at 6:48 of the third when Lauren Greer set up Madison Styrbicki for Middlebury's second power play goal.
Looking to slice the Panthers lead in half and create a comeback effort, Williams pulled Billadeau from the net with 1:55 to go.
However, a shorthanded empty netter from Emily Fluke at the 18:37 mark put the game out of reach for Williams, making it a 4-1 final.
Middlebury held a 49-32 shots advantage in the game, getting 31 saves from Annabelle Jones to pick up the win.
BOX SCORE
