Middlebury wrapped up the home portion of its regular-season schedule on a winning note as the Panthers handled 10th-ranked Colby by the score of 12-2 on Saturday at Kohn Field. The hosts trailed early, but the team's defense allowed only one goal the last 57 minutes of the game. The sixth-ranked Panthers (13-1, 8-1) finish the regular season on Wednesday when they travel to Williams for a 5:30 p.m. game, while the Mules (11-3, 6-3) visit Bates at 5:00 p.m. on the same day.

The Mules opened the scoring 2:57 into the game when Abby Hooper took advantage of a free-position shot for a 1-0 lead, using a low shot to get the visitors on the scoreboard.

Middlebury embarked on a six-goal run to take control of the game, with Bridget Instrum tying the game at 1-1 with 17:56 showing on the clock. Chrissy Ritter and Alli Sciarretta made it 3-1 with goals 1:17 apart, while Megan Griffin added consecutive tallies, quickly extending the lead to 5-1. Hollis Perticone capped the run on a nice give-and-go with Sciarretta.

Colby's Kendall Smith stopped the Middlebury run on a low shot after taking a feed from Maddie Hatch to make it a 6-2 game with 7:19 remaining in the half.

Sara DiCenso helped the Panthers add one more goal before the half when she made a nifty pass to Bea Eppler on the left side of the crease for the goal.

The Mules made a late rush up the field in transition looking for another goal, but Panther goalie Katie Mandigo denied Hooper's shot from the left side just before the horn sounded to end the half with the hosts in front 7-2.

Ritter opened scoring 4:53 into the second half with a shot from six yards out after taking a pass from Perticone. The score stayed at 8-2 until the midway point of the period when Instrum used a long pass to set up Mary O'Connell for her 24th goal of the season.

In the final 10 minutes, the Panthers closed out the scoring with three goals in a span of 1:52, as Sciarretta, Instrum and Pascal each found the back of the net, pushing the difference to 12-2, which held until the final horn.           

Middlebury spread out the scoring with eight different goal scorers, as Sciarretta, Griffin, Instrum and Ritter each netted a pair. Sciaretta added a game-high three assists and Griffin dished out two helpers. Instrum excelled defensively as well with three caused turnovers, three draw controls and three ground balls, while Delaina Smith chipped in with three ground balls and Henley Hall nabbed three draw controls.

Mandigo (5-1) made three saves to earn the win, while Madeleine Kinker did not face a shot in the final 15 minutes of the game.

Hooper and Smith each tallied for the Mules, while Hatch had a game-high four ground balls and Georgia Lubrano caused a pair of turnovers. In goal, Izzy Scribano (8-3) made three saves in the first 19 minutes of the game and Sam Burch recorded four.

The Panthers held a 24-8 edge in shots and dominated draw controls 13-3, while not allowing a goal the final 37:19 of the game.