A goal in the 51st minute proved to be the difference as 11th-ranked Williams earned a 1-0 victory over visiting Middlebury on Cole Field. The Panthers (8-6, 4-5) conclude the regular-season portion of their schedule with NESCAC Tournament implications on the line Saturday when they host Wesleyan at 11:00 a.m., while the Ephs (12-1, 7-1) play at Bates on the same day.

The back-and-forth contest started from the opening whistle. In the second minute, Kai Mitsuyama sent an enticing ball to the back post, but that ball fell mere inches away from the goal and kept the match scoreless.

The Ephs kept the pressure up in the 19th minute, as Audrey Thomas weaved through several Panther defenders before sliding a through ball toward Crystal Lewin on the right side of the Panther penalty area. Lewin took a touch and raced toward Middlebury goalie Emily Eslinger, but the tight angle and recovering defenders forced her into a high shot.

The Panthers had their first good look of the game 10 minutes later when Claire Nishioka's high pressure forced an Eph turnover in their own defensive third. The Williams' defense was able to recover and not allow a shot.

The Panthers again looked to get on the board in the last minutes of the first half. Hannah Robinson pulled up from 20 yards and fired a would-be scoring effort over Williams' goalie Hannah Van Wetter's head.

In the waning moments of the opening stanza, the Panthers were awarded a free kick 25 yards out. Katherine Hobbs lined up the free kick, but her shot missed wide and sent the match into halftime scoreless.         

Just six minutes after the break, Kristi Kirshe broke the tie. After a series of corner kicks on the left side, the Ephs won a throw-in deep down the left wing. Alison Magruder sent a beautiful cross into the center of the box, right onto the leaping head of Kirshe, whose looping header rose over the outstretched arms of Eslinger, before dipping back under the crossbar.

In the 65th minute, it looked like the Panthers might have found the equalizer. A communication mix-up between the Eph defenders and Van Wetter saw the goalie rush off her line to collect a ball that a defender made an attempt to clear. The failed clearance fell to Middlebury's Jamie Soroka, who made an attempt at firing a ball at the net, but her effort could not elude the outstretched leg of Williams' defender Lilly Wellenbach.

Williams looked to take make it a two-goal advantage in the 81st minute when Mitsuyama sent another cross into the center of the Panther box. Maddie Swarr managed to chest the ball toward the goal, but the attempt hit the crossbar, and was cleared away harmlessly.

Van Wetter recorded four saves for Williams, while Eslinger was credited with one. The Ephs owned an 11-9 edge in the shot category and a 6-1 advantage in corner kicks.