The top-ranked Middlebury field hockey team scored two goals in the opening nine minutes and added a third in the fourth quarter to secure a 3-0 triumph over #10 Amherst.
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• The Panthers had the first chance with 2:34 elapsed in the initial quarter. Lilly Branka drove into the circle and fired a shot toward the lower-left corner that Mammoth goalie Grace Puchalski kicked away.
• The visitors grabbed a 1-0 edge at the 5:17 mark. Hanna Medwar sailed down the left side and guided the ball toward the Amherst end line. Medwar tapped a centering pass that trickled to Georgianne Defeo, who buried her team-leading fifth goal of the season.
• Middlebury struck again at the 8:10 mark when Amy Griffin sent a pass into the left side of the circle to Katherine Lantzy. The Panther took a step toward the goal and found the back of the net for her first tally of the year to make it a 2-0 game.
• Amherst's Anna Aiello sent in a blast following a penalty corner at the 10:54 mark, but Aiello's shot slid just right of the cage. 
• Aiello tested Panther goalie Izzy Redzic to open the second period, finding space inside the circle before Redzic saved the bid with her left pad to keep the Mammoths at bay. 
• Defeo looked for her second marker of the day with 6:42 elapsed, settling the ball near the top of the circle and firing into traffic. Sarah Bona got her stick on the ball and sliced an attempt that sailed left of the cage.
• Emily Stone notched the final chance of the half for the visitors in the 29th minute, but her shot sailed just right of the post. 
• Middlebury had a great opportunity to increase its advantage with 2:08 gone in the third quarter. Lantzy ran nearly the length of the field but her shot was kicked away by Puchalski.
• The Panthers had another quality scoring chance less than a minute later. Griffin sailed a pass into Caroline Segal who tried to redirect the attempt into the cage. Puchalski got enough of Segal's attempt with her left pad to keep the score at 2-0. 
• Molly Donegan created the first opportunity of the half for the Mammoths with 6:05 elapsed, redirecting a Smith pass toward the cage before Redzic made the save. 
• Middlebury found the cage for the third time at 1:36 of the final quarter. Griffin took a penalty corner insert from Segal and slid a pass to Emily Stone, who wound up and scored her second of the season tucked inside the ripe pipe. 
• The Mammoths had a chance with their first penalty corner since the initial quarter with 2:30 remaining. Maya Harrington inserted to Smith, but Ellie Hughes got a piece of the attempt and deflected it out of harm's way to secure the 3-0 shutout. 

NOTES

• Griffin's two helpers put her at 38 for her career and seven away from third in program history. It is also her sixth multi-assist game in the navy and white.
• With the triumph, the Panthers have won 17 consecutive matchups with the Mammoths and own a 35-8-1 advantage in the all-time series.

 Middlebury closes its NESCAC weekend road trip at #15 Wesleyan on Sunday at 12:00 p.m.