The Middlebury women's hockey team ran its NESCAC regular-season unbeaten streak to 25 games as the Panthers recorded a 5-0 shutout over Wesleyan in Kenyon Arena on Saturday. Middlebury is 20-0-5 during that stretch and also moved into first place in the conference standings with the win. The sixth-ranked Panthers (13-4-3, 9-0-3) return to the ice on Friday with a conference road game at Colby, while Wesleyan (4-14-1, 1-10-1) heads to Trinity. Both games start at 7:00 p.m.

The victory also was the program's 50th against the Cardinals, as Middlebury holds a 50-0-3 advantage in the series.

The Panthers struck quickly as they scored on the game's initial shift. Middlebury cycled the puck below the Cardinal goal line as Elizabeth Wulf scored the goal from the doorstep after taking a short pass from behind the net by Jessica Young. That goal came 37 seconds into the contest.

Wesleyan came close to tying the score when Ellery Sarosi tipped a shot in front, but Panther goalie Kiana Verplancke shot out her left pad for the save.

Middlebury doubled its advantage with 3:35 left in the opening period on a goal by Grace Jennings. She joined the play from the right point, taking a drop pass from Katherine Jackson and beat Cardinal goalie Corrine Rivard with a shot over her left shoulder.

The Panthers added two more goals in the second period to extend their lead to four. Shanna Hickman tallied the first those, as she swatted in a centering pass from Maddie Winslow at 5:11 into the middle frame. Winslow made it 4-0 after Young created a turnover just inside the Wesleyan blue line, using a backhander to beat Rivard with 27 seconds left in the period.

Middlebury finished off the scoring in the third period, as Winslow collected a puck in the slot and fired a hard shot under the cross bar for her second goal of the game. That tally came with the hosts on the power play at the 9:44 mark. Good for her team-leading 11th of the season.

Verplancke earned her first collegiate shutout with 17 saves, while Rivard had 27 stops.

Captain Julia Wardwell played in her 100th career game for the Panthers and earned the primary assist on the team's goal in the third period.

Young handed out three assists in the win, as she capped the two-game series with seven points (2g, 5a).