Third-ranked Middlebury (5-0, 4-0) rattled off 11-unanswered goals covering nearly 28 minutes of action Friday afternoon en route to a 14-6 NESCAC home victory over No. 17 Bowdoin in women's lacrosse action on Kohn Field. Middlebury returns to action on Tuesday morning against R.I.T. in Florida, while Bowdoin plays at Trinity a week from Saturday.

In the early going, the two teams traded goals before the Polar Bears grabbed a narrow one-goal lead at 4-3 with 1:06 left. Middlebury's Laurel Pascal knotted the score at 3-3 with 1:16 left on a pinpoint pass from Liza Herzog. On the ensuing draw control. Bowdoin's Betsy Sachs grabbed the loose ball and raced down the field scoring 10 seconds later.

Following Sachs' goal, Herzog secured the ensuing draw control for the Panthers and the hosts started their run. Herzog tied the game again at 4-4 with 29 seconds left when she cut in front of the goal and received a pass right to her stick from Katie Ritter. Herzog put Middlebury ahead when she scored what proved to be the game-winning goal just seconds before the halftime break on a free-position shot.

Out of the intermission, the Panthers continued to keep the pressure on the Polar Bear defense. Middlebury rattled off the first nine goals of the half with two apiece coming from Mary O'Connell, Bridget Instrum and Katie Ritter. Instrum also picked up a pair of assists during the second-half run. Bowdoin picked up a pair of late scores from Lindsay Picard and Sachs for the final difference.

Herzog led Middlebury with five points via three goals and two assists. O'Connell and Katie Ritter both finished with three goals and an assist, respectively, while Instrum ended with two goals and two helpers. Herzog added a team-best four draw controls, while Hannah Deoul and Allie Hooley each recorded three caused turnovers.

Alyssa Palomba posted five saves in goal as well as a pair of ground balls for Middlebury in 56:17 of action, while Madeleine Kinker logged the final 3:43 between the pipes with a save.

Picard concluded the game with a pair of goals and a team-high four draw controls for Bowdoin (3-3, 1-3). Sachs added two goals and a pair of ground balls, while Jordan Smith and Olivia Raisner each had a score for the Polar Bears.

Isabel Sippel recorded 10 saves in front of the net for the visitors.

Middlebury held the advantage in shots (27-17) and ground balls (21-13) led by four from Erin Benotti, while each team grabbed 11 draw controls.