Middlebury held Stevenson (9-6) to just 14 shots as the sixth-ranked Panthers (7-2-2) cruised to a 4-1 win over the Mustangs in the first meeting between the two schools. Middlebury returns to action on Saturday vs. Endicott at 3:00 p.m., while Stevenson visits St. Anselm with a 1:00 p.m. face-off.

The Panthers took a 1-0 lead midway through the first period on the third of the season from Janka Hlinka. Jessica Young made a pass to Hlinka from the right corner, before her one-timer found the back of the net. Maddie Winslow earned the second assist on the goal, increasing her point streak to eight games (6-5-11).

Stevenson tied the game at the 18:46 mark when Jordan Pirrello took advantage of a failed clearing attempt by Panther goalie Julia Neuburger and found the back of an open net. The Panthers answered late in the period when Young buried a shot on a rebound after an initial shot from Katherine Jackson had been saved. The goal came with 16 seconds left in the period and sent the home team into the lockerroom with a 2-1 advantage.

Young nearly gave her team a 3-1 lead when she broke in on the right side with a short-handed bid, but her shot was denied by Mustang goaltender Caitie Darosa. The advantage grew to 3-1 when Winslow netted her sixth of the season on the power play at the 9:50 mark. After Young's shot from the outside was saved, the big rebound came to Winslow, who knocked it home. The Panther advantage extended to 4-1 with 3:53 left in the second period when Amanda Navratil netted the first of her career. A nice side-board pass from Kelly Sherman set up the goal, as Navratil broke in all alone.

Stevenson had a great chance to get back into the game in the third with a five-on-three power play for 1:16, but could not cut into the deficit. Middlebury had a couple of great chances of its own, but Darosa came up big on Sidney Portner with a glove save and flashed the pad on a breakaway attempt by Katarina Shuchuk.

Neuburger finished with 13 saves to pick up the win, while Darosa made 31 stops for the Mustangs.