Middlebury's Emily Fluke scored 6:35 into the fourth overtime leading the top-seeded Panthers to a 3-2 NESCAC Quarterfinal win Saturday over #8 seed Hamilton in the longest NESCAC Tournament game in history (126:35). With the victory, Middlebury head coach Bill Mandigo, now in his 27th season, becomes the first women's college hockey coach in any division to eclipse the 500-win plateau (500-127-34). Middlebury will play host to the conference's semifinals and finals next Saturday and Sunday, March 7-8.

In next Saturday's first semifinal at 1:00 p.m., the Panthers will play #5 seed Bowdoin, who earned a 3-2 overtime win on the road against #4 seed Connecticut College. The other semifinal will feature #2 seed Amherst, a 2-1 overtime winner against #7 seed Colby, against #3 seed Trinity, who posted a 1-0 shutout of sixth-seeded Williams - game time is 4:00 p.m.   

The Panthers jumped on the board early with a pair of goals from Jessica Young in the opening 4:14 of play. Young scored on Middlebury's initial shot 52 seconds in with a wrister from the left point that hit a skate in front and popped over Hamilton goalie Sam Walther. On the lone power play of the opening stanza, Young put Middlebury in front 2-0 at 4:14 with her 16th goal of the season when she tipped in a wrister from the left point by Carly Watson. The Panthers scored on two of their first three shots of the game, but Walther held the hosts scoreless over the next 77 shots.  

Hamilton's Megan Fitzgerald had the Continentals' best scoring opportunity of the opening period with 2:30 left on a wraparound chance that was padded away by Panther netminder Madeline Marsh. Middlebury held a 12-6 edge in shots in the period.

In the second period, Hamilton cut the deficit in half when Katie Parkman scored on a point-blank wrister that she lifted over Marsh after Elana Van Arnam dug the puck away from the boards behind the Panther goal. The score was Parkman's team-leading 10th of the season. Midway through the period with Hamilton on a power play, Teal Gosselin tried to even the score with a close-range shot that Marsh stopped with her right pad.

Ahead by a 2-1 score, Katie Sullivan looked to put Middlebury up by two on a breakaway, but Walther stoned her from just outside the crease with five minutes left.

Following a timeout and on the power play, Hamilton tied it at 2-2 at 8:08 in the third period when pinpoint passes from Sara Taffe and Parkman found Gosselin on the left doorstep. She quickly one-timed a shot into the upper part of the net for the equalizer. With a little under six minutes left in the period, Katie Mandigo was unable to control a bouncing puck on a three-on-one break and the game remained knotted at 2-2.

In the early part of the first overtime, Middlebury ratcheted up the offensive pressure throwing scoring chances at Walther, but were unable to score a goal. At the midway point of the period with Hamilton making a line change, Sullivan broke in behind the Continental defense, but wristed a shot high over the crossbar.

In the second overtime at 5:30, Middlebury's Hannah Bielawski laced a shot from the right point that hit sticks in front, but couldn't find the back of the net. Following a mishandling of the puck by Middlebury along the boards, Fitzgerald tried a wraparound that Marsh corralled in her midsection with a little more than five minutes left.

During the third overtime, Middlebury held a 13-3 advantage in shots as neither team found the back of the opposing net.

Fluke's game-winning tally came on the power play and was her 18th score of the season. She tipped in a shot from Watson on the left point following a stick-to-stick pass from the right point by Bielawski.

For the contest, Middlebury held an 83-33 advantage in shots as Marsh tallied 31 saves for the win. Near the midway point of the third overtime, Walther set a new NESCAC Tournament record with her 66th save, as she finished the game with 80. Walther's save total surpassed the mark of 65 set by Krystyn Elek of Amherst in the 2007 NESCAC Championship game in a win over Middlebury.

Middlebury has now participated in the three longest games in NESCAC Tournament history. Saturday's game length of 126:35 sets the record, while a 2-1 setback against Trinity that lasted 123:49 occurred during the 2010 semifinals. The third-longest game took 101:54 to complete, a 2-1 loss to Amherst in the 2007 championship game.