The #2 Middlebury women's lacrosse team (18-1) cruised past #23 SUNY Geneseo 22-6 in NCAA Second Round action on Kohn Field on Sunday. With the victory, the Panthers advance in tournament play and will host a four-team regional next weekend. The Knights conclude their season with a 15-4 record after making their first appearance in the tournament since 2014, and just the third overall. 
 
Geneseo got on the board first, scoring with 12:16 left on the clock while a player down. Hannah Marafioti scooped up a loose ball in the crease and tucked it inside the right pipe for the early 1-0 edge. Middlebury responded with three-straight markers. Kelcey Dion took a free-position attempt and passed to Hope Shue, before Shue buried the ball in the upper-right corner to tie the game at one goal apiece. Emma White ran from restraining line to retraining line and sent a pass to Dion who twirled around a defender and found the top-right 90. Shue scored again at the 7:07 mark with a helper from Lily Riseberg to make it 3-1. The Knights cut the deficit to one (3-2) when Marafioti slipped a free-position attempt inside the right panel, but Shue made it 4-2 for the Panthers in the waning minutes of the stanza with her third tally of the game.
 
Geneseo wasted little time trimming the lead back down to one (4-3) when Marafioti completed a hat trick just 48 seconds into the second quarter. Middlebury took advantage of being at least one player up for a majority of the frame, gaining some breathing room. Jane Earley converted a pair of free-position attempts early on to make it 6-3. Marafioti cut the deficit to 6-4 when she drove to the net and slipped the ball past Panther goalie Annie Enrietto on the right side. Middlebury tallied three-consecutive markers during extra-player situations. Earley tallied a free-position goal while up two players, Riseberg tucked a bounce shot under the crossbar, and Earley bounced in a free-position chance for the 9-4 advantage. With 1:06 left in the half, the Knights made it 9-5 when Madelyn Brown tucked a free-position attempt into the right panel. 
 
The Panthers came out of halftime strong, tallying five-straight goals. Erin Nicholas converted a pair of free-position markers before Maggie Coughlin scored twice. Earley closed out the span with a goal on a nifty pass from Coughlin for the 14-5 lead at the 9:13 mark. With 7:40 showing on the clock, Emma Gaenzle scooped up a loose ball after a scramble in front of the net and scored through traffic to cut the lead down to 14-6, but that was as close as the Knights would get. Shue, Earley and Susan Rowley scored in the final 7:07 of the stanza, making it 17-6 and forcing running time on the clock.
 
In the fourth quarter, Middlebury's Coughlin scored twice, Dion converted a free-position and Madeline Riordan tallied the final pair of markers. The final goal of the game highlighted the scoring, featuring a beautiful give-and-go between Coughlin and Riordan for the 22-6 victory.
 
Enrietto improved to 12-0 between the pipes with five saves during the victory. Emily DeJohn suffered the loss, making five stops in the opening 35:47, while Margaret Rosaschi had two saves to close out the contest.
 
Middlebury's Coughlin led all players with a career-high eight points (4G, 4A) in her first NCAA Tournament game. Earley had a game-high six goals, tying her career best, while pacing all players with six draw controls. Shue (4G) and Dion (2G, 2A) each had four points during the win. Erica Barr scooped up four groundballs and had three caused turnovers.
 
The 22 goals tied for the most this season for Middlebury. The Panthers extended their NCAA winning streak to six-consecutive victories and are now 12-1 against ranked opponents this year. 
 
Marafioti had a great game for Geneseo, scoring three times and adding one helper, while leading all players with five rollers.