The top-ranked Middlebury field hockey team overcame a three-goal deficit, edging sixth-ranked Bowdoin 4-3 to claim its fourth-straight NESCAC title on Sunday. The Panthers (18-0) became the second team in conference history to win eight titles and four-consecutive championships, joining Bowdoin, who accomplished the feat from 2005-2008.

Middlebury receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and will wait for their opponent when the field is announced late Sunday evening. Bowdoin (14-4) hopes to earn an at-large bid to the tournament. The Panthers also extended a pair of growing streaks with the victory, extending their overall winning streak to 26-consecutive triumphs and 45-straight wins on Kohn Field.

Middlebury had a scoring chance right off the bat on a nice passing play. Lilly Branka carried the ball up the field and Audrey Lazar touched the ball to a cutting Katie George. George stepped past Polar Bear goalie Maddie Ferrucci, but her shot went just wide of the right post.

Faith Jennings gave the visitors a 2-0 cushion scoring a pair of markers later in the frame. Her first came with 8:49 on the clock tucking in a loose ball off a scramble in front of the net. With just over three minutes remaining, Jill Cloonan sent a long pass that Jennings turned into a breakaway. She carried the ball around Panther goalie Grace Harlan and used a low shot from the left side to double the lead.

In the second quarter, the teams traded goals with Jennings getting the hat trick with 5:09 expired. Her third tally came when she redirected a pass from Cloonan. Middlebury got a spark on a penalty corner, with Grace Murphy firing a shot that Ferrucci stopped, before Erin Nicholas flipped in the rebound with 3:01 left in the half.

In the third stanza, the hosts continued to chip away at the deficit, closing to within one (3-2) with 8:39 on the clock. On a play that started on a penalty corner, Isabel Chandler fed Joan Vera with a pass just inside the arc, who blasted a shot past Ferrucci. The Panthers knotted the contest at 3-3 with 3:34 left in the stanza, as Nicholas tipped in a shot from Amy Griffin.

The score remained tied into the final 15 minutes, with Middlebury taking its first lead of the game midway through. Nicholas slid past a defender on the right side and flicked a high shot into the upper corner to complete the hat trick. The goal, Nicholas' conference-leading 22nd of the season came with 7:54 remaining.

Bowdoin had a chance to tie the game with just over a minute left with a penalty corner, but the Polar Bears were unable to generate a scoring chance.

Harlan earned the win for the Panthers with a pair of saves, while Ferrucci had six stops for Bowdoin.

Middlebury held an advantage in shots (19-5) and penalty corners (12-5).