The top-ranked Middlebury women's hockey team handed #3 Amherst its first NESCAC loss, defeating the Mammoths 3-1 on Saturday. The teams skated to a 1-1 draw on Friday, as the Panthers edged Amherst 2-1 in the shootout.
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• Avery McInerny attempted to get the hosts on the board with 56 ticks off the clock. She fired a shot in front of the crease that goalie Natalie Stott was able to deflect to the side. 
• The Mammoths created a two-on-one opportunity on a backhand pass from Alyssa Xu on a powerplay. Kelsey Stewart ripped a shot from the left faceoff dot that was steered aside by the blocker of Sophia Will with 10:27 elapsed.
• Middlebury got on the board 5:03 into the game. McInerny had an initial shot that Stott made a pad save on, but Kate Flynn was able to snag the rebound and push the puck over the line to give the Panthers the 1-0 lead.
• Maeve McAdams looked to double the Middlebury advantage with a shot from the left slot that Stott smeared with her glove with 13:53 expired.
• Cece Ziegler increased the lead with 57 seconds expired in the second stanza. After a race for the puck in the Amherst zone, Flynn collected the puck in the bottom left pocket before zipping a pass up to Ziegler at the point, whose shot rang inside the left post to make it 2-0. 
• At the 6:09 mark, Alyssa Xu wrapped around the goal when Will got a blocker on it. Marie-Eve Marleau picked up the rebound, but two seconds later, a second save was made to hold the Mammoths scoreless.
• Amherst cut the deficit to one (2-1) at the 11:48 mark. Sami Lester made a backhanded pass over to Julia Weiss, whose shot slipped just over the right shoulder of Will. 
• Jordan Hower fired a shot from between the faceoff circles that Stott made the sprawling left pad save on. Britt Nawrocki picked up the rebound and shot through traffic, but Stott picked up another save with 15:12 elapsed. 
• With Callia Ferraris jumping right off the bench, she was fed a cross-ice pass from Sabrina Kim as they were skating into the Mammoth zone. Ferraris ripped a shot from the left faceoff circle that snuck over Stott's right shoulder to give Middlebury the 3-1 lead with 1:35 off the third-period clock. 
• Emily Hohmann tried her luck with a wrist shot with 10:43 remaining, but Will thwarted the attempt with a glove save.
• Amherst would not go away as Ayla Abban fired a shot on net that was smothered by Will with 12:51 off the clock.
• The Mammoths pulled Stott with 2:17 remaining, but the Panther defense was strong and did not allow a shot on goal as they secured the 3-1 victory.

NOTES

• The squad's three markers are the most relinquished by Stott all season.
• The teams met for the 67th time with Middlebury improving to 39-12-16 in the series.
• This marked the first win by the Panthers against the Mammoths since the 2022 NESCAC Championship.

Middlebury continues its five-game home-stand with a two-game set against #10 Bowdoin next weekend.