The #2 Middlebury field hockey team continued its pursuit of a seventh-straight NCAA Title, topping #5 Johns Hopkins 3-1 in a regional final on Peter Kohn Field. The Panthers advance to the semifinals and take on #1 Salisbury on Friday at a time to be determined. 
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• The Blue Jays had a good chance to jump on the scoreboard early, but Caeli Robinson's blast from just inside the circle with 2:02 elapsed skidded wide left.
• The hosts looked to take advantage of the first corner of the day with 2:40 gone by. Amy Griffin stopped the insert from Caroline Segal and dished the ball to Grace Keefe, but a charging Aubrey Kilgore came off her line to kick away the bid. 
• The best opportunity of the opening stanza came at the 13:49 mark following a corner. Middlebury cycled the ball around the circle before Griffin rifled a shot that Kilgore denied with a phenomenal split-save on the left pipe.
• The Panthers took a 1-0 edge with 23:36 elapsed. Katherine Lantzy stopped an insert from Segal and dished the ball to Keefe. Segal assumed her position on the left post and redirected a hard bid from Keefe for the one-goal advantage.
• With under two minutes to go in the half, Johns Hopkins knotted the contest. Megan Chang intercepted a clearing attempt deep in the circle and lifted her shot from the right side into the upper left corner of the cage. 
• Middlebury looked to move in front with just over a minute gone by in the third frame. Hanna Medwar fed the ball to Segal, whose shot was denied by Kilgore, who laid out to thwart the attempt.
• The Panthers were down two players for nearly two full minutes soon after, but a strong defensive effort kept the Blue Jays at bay.
• Middlebury took a 2-1 lead at the 41:08 mark. Keefe sent a long pass from the outside right of the circle that trickled past traffic and found Georgianne Defeo, who redirected the ball into the cage from the left pipe.
• The Panthers nearly scored again with 27 seconds left in the frame, but Segal's point-blank attempt that sent Kilgore diving to her left, pinged off the left pipe.
• Middlebury added an insurance tally with less than eight minutes to go. Ellie Hughes sprinted down the left sideline and sent a beautiful pass to Emma McCann. The Panther shook a defender and carried the ball into the middle of the circle, before shoveling her shot past Kilgore for her second career goal in as many games. 

NOTES

• The Panthers claimed their 59th victory in the NCAA Tournament, moving into second place behind The College of New Jersey (82). 
• Middlebury and Johns Hopkins played for the fourth-consecutive year in the postseason, with each of the previous meetings coming in the national championship game. 

The top-four teams advanced to the final site, including three NESCAC squads. Third-ranked Tufts takes on #4 Williams in the other semifinal with all games taking place on Friday on the campus of Washington and Lee.