The top-ranked Middlebury women's hockey team (6-0-0, 3-0-0) scored a pair of goals in the third period to edge Amherst 2-1 on Friday. The two teams square off in the second game of the series on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. 
 
The Mammoths (2-3-0, 0-3-0) had a good chance to get on the scoreboard at the 7:09 mark. Rylee Glennon wristed a shot from the top of the right faceoff circle, but Panther goalie Sophia Merageas used her right pad to deny the bid. Madie Leidt looked to break the scoreless with 9:35 expired in the opening stanza, but her shot from the left point went just wide of the net. The Panther's best chance of the first period came with 11:41 showing on the clock. Raia Schluter skated with an Amherst defender from center ice down towards the goal. She was able to just get her stick on the puck, but her bid from the doorstep was denied by goaltender Caitlin Walker. 
 
Out of the break, the Mammoths took advantage of a power play, grabbing a 1-0 edge with less than five minutes remaining in the period. An initial shot by Elizabeth DeCarlo was blocked by Eva Hendrikson, but the rebound sent the Panthers scrambling. An Amherst player wedged herself between Merageas and the goal, before Alyssa Xu tucked the loose puck inside the right pipe. 
 
The Panthers knotted the game 1-1 with 8:19 elapsed in the third period. An initial shot by Leidt was denied by Walker, but Leidt was there to one-time her own rebound into the back of the goal for her sixth tally of the season.
 
Middlebury took a 2-1 edge during a power play at the 13:15 mark. Leidt sent a bid from the top of the right faceoff circle before Katie Hargrave redirected the shot into the goal. Amherst pulled its goalie with just a few seconds remaining and hoped to even the score, but Leslie Schwartz's chance was thwarted by Merageas as the Panthers hung on for the 2-1 victory. 
 
Merageas earned her fourth win in goal, making 17 saves. Walker had 29 stops for the Mammoths. Middlebury held a commanding 73-36 advantage in total shots during the game.