The top-ranked Middlebury women's lacrosse team (13-0, 8-0) put together a dominant performance against fourth-ranked Colby on Saturday, easing to a 13-5 victory. The win marked the 38th-straight for the Panthers and 20th-consecutive triumph on Kohn Field. Middlebury snapped the Mules' 10-game winning streak, held the squad to their fewest goals scored (five) all season, and handed Colby its first NESCAC loss of the year. The Panthers hit the road for the final pair of regular-season contests, traveling to #19 Amherst on Saturday for a 2:00 p.m. start. 
 
Prior to the start of the contest, Middlebury honored seniors Emma White, Madeline Riordan, Erin Nicholas, Grace Getman, Sophie MacKeigan and Lily Riseberg.
 
The Panthers opened the scoring with 9:02 showing on the first-quarter clock when Riseberg sent a pass to Jane Earley from behind the net, before Earley's quick-stick attempt went into the upper-left corner for the 1-0 edge. Earley converted a free-position marker from the center hash less than two minutes later. She drove toward the goal, made a move and slipped the ball over Colby goalie Emily Podgorni's shoulder to make it 2-0. With three ticks left on the shot clock and just under three minutes to go in the quarter, Nicholas put the ball in the back of the net on a quick feed from Maggie Coughlin for the 3-0 advantage. The Mules cut the deficit to 3-1 when Ainsley Dion converted a free position into the bottom-right corner with 50 seconds remaining. Colby had a great chance to cut into the lead again with 26 ticks left on the clock, but Grace Toner's attempt hit the ripe pipe and ricocheted away. 
 
The second quarter was all Middlebury as the home squad tallied four goals. With 59 seconds elapsed, Susan Rowley struck first with a quick stick into the upper 90. Nearly nine minutes went by before Kelcey Dion scored through the five hole on a free-position attempt while the Panthers were a player down. With just under two minutes to go until halftime, Coughlin deked a Mules' defender and buried the ball in the top-right corner during an extra-player advantage. Earley completed a hat trick with 1:05 showing on the clock. She slipped on the wet turf as she darted off the line during a free-position attempt, but Earley got the shot off as she was falling to the ground and found the back of the goal for the 7-1 lead at the break.
 
The opening 7:24 of the third stanza saw back-and-forth action, before the Panthers made it 8-1 when Earley tucked the ball inside the right pipe on a feed from Dion behind the net. Colby's Annie Eddy responded with a pair of quick goals. Eddy snuck the first tally into the goal through traffic, before scooping up a groundball after a scramble in front of the net less than a minute later to bring the difference to five (8-3). Middlebury answered with a pair of goals, eclipsing the double-digit scoring plateau for the 32nd-consecutive time. Getman converted a free-position tally from the right hash, before Anna Spehr used a quick stick to give the Panthers a 10-3 cushion heading into the final frame. 
 
The Mules cut into the lead with 13:59 left in the game when Elizabeth Hennessey spun around a defender and buried the ball in the left panel. Middlebury's Nicholas recorded a free-position marker at the 10:31 mrak to make it 11-4, before Eddy tallied her third of the game for Colby with a bouncing free-position goal. With under four minutes remaining in the game, Earley tallied back-to-back goals to bring the final score to 13-5. 
 
Gina Driscoll was phenomenal in goal for the Panthers, making eight saves to earn her second win of the season. Podgroni stopped nine shots in net for the Mules, while collecting a game-high four rollers. 
 
Earley led all players with a career-high six goals to go along with one assist, factoring into more than half of Middlebury's scoring plays. Dion tallied one goal and dished out a pair of helpers, while Nicholas (2G) and Coughlin (1G, 1A) each recorded two points. The Panther defense was exceptoinal with several key contributors. Erica Barr won three draw controls, Getman caused a pair of turnovers and Getman, Kylie Wilson and Madison Paylor each scooped up three groundballs.
 
Eliza Dean led all players with four draw controls, while Eddy recorded a hat trick for Colby. 

The Middlebury victory marked the 65th-straight win for a women's stick sport team, a streak dating back to March 2020.