The top-ranked Middlebury field hockey team battled to even the score at 1-1, but #6 Tufts netted the game-winner with 6:41 left to take a 2-1 victory on Saturday. The setback snapped the Panthers' program-record 43-game winning streak.

HIGHLIGHTS

• The Jumbos looked to strike first with 8:09 elapsed in the first. Claire Gavin settled a pass from Lainie Pearson that deflected off a Panther defender and fired from just inside the circle. Panther goalie Izzy Redzic kicked the lower-right attempt away.
• Middlebury had a chance with less than 30 ticks left after a Tufts foul. Caroline Haggerty appeared to tip in a bid from Amy Griffin from just outside the circle, but the officials waved off the goal. 
• The Panthers upped the pressure to begin the second frame with a penalty corner at the 15:41 mark. Claire McMichael settled a bouncing ball and sailed an attempt that trickled wide of the left post.
• Hanna Medwar had a golden opportunity with 2:53 gone in the quarter, working the ball toward the end line. Medwar raced around a Jumbo defender and tried to tuck it in the bottom-right corner, only to be turned away by the pads of Tufts goalie Lydia Eastburn.
• The home team grabbed the lead with 7:59 elapsed. Kayleigh McDonald inserted a penalty corner that was stopped and blasted by Andrea DelGiudice. McDonald snuck into the picture from the left and tapped the ball past the arms of goalie Izzy Redzic to earn a 1-0 lead.
• Middlebury pushed the envelope after the Jumbos goal at 12:29. Griffin used a nifty move to get around two defenders before lacing a shot that bounced off the chest of Eastburn. 
• Megan Fuqua and Caroline Segal tested their luck with shots 34 seconds apart, but Eastburn came up with consecutive clutch saves to keep the Panthers off the board heading into halftime.
• The visitors found the scoreboard at the 7:24 mark of the third frame. McMichael muscled toward the end line and laced a centering shot that tipped off Medwar's stick and into the goal to knot the contest at 1-1.
• Gavin nearly gave the Jumbos the lead back with 11:13 elapsed, but her attempt slid wide of the cage.
• Tufts continued its push with back-to-back penalty corners less than a minute later. The Panthers rose to the challenge, not allowing a Jumbos' shot.
• With the seconds trickling down in the third, the visitors had one last chance. Lilly Branka lifted the ball into Georgianne Defeo, who worked it into the heart of the circle. With a defender on her right hip, Defeo blasted an attempt that sailed wide to keep it tied at 1-1 heading into the final quarter.
• Middlebury looked for its first lead with 12:59 left in the fourth. McMichael sent in a pass that found the stick of Haggerty. Eastburn came off her line and stuffed the chance with her pads.
• The Jumbos tallied the decisive goal at the 8:19 mark following a penalty corner. Reagan Malo tapped a pass over to McDonald for her second goal of the afternoon for a 2-1 lead.
• Middlebury pulled Redzic from the cage with 2:58 remaining in favor of an extra-field player. The Jumbos had other plans, holding the Panthers without a shot to secure the upset.

NOTES

• Medwar earned her eighth goal of the season in Saturday's defeat, while McMichael handed out her fifth helper.
• Middlebury and Tufts met for the 34th time in the series. The Jumbos snapped a six-game skid to their conference foe.

The Panthers set out for their final road trip of the regular season with a battle against #12 Bates next Saturday at 12:00 p.m.