The 10th-ranked Middlebury field hockey team tallied two first-half goals and held the sixth-ranked Bobcats to four shots on target to secure a 2-1 triumph on Saturday from Peter Kohn Field.

HIGHLIGHTS

• With 9:02 expired, Megan Fuqua sent a shot towards the left post. Bobcats goalie Ava Donohue stuck her blocker out to kick the bid away.
• Middlebury grabbed a 1-0 edge 43 seconds later. Hadley Crowther worked the ball on the endline and flipped a pass toward a darting Addie Chandler. The rookie tapped the shot into the left side of the cage.
• The Panthers added a second marker with 2:16 remaining in the opening stanza following a penalty corner. Grace Keefe slid a pass to Chandler, who was shaded left of the goal. Chandler tapped the ball to Emma McCann for a cross-cage shot that sailed in to make it 2-0.
• Bates cut the lead to 2-1 at the 16:43 mark. Haley Dwight sent a pass to the left post, where Caroline Nowak waited to tap the ball into the center of the goal.
• Middlebury responded with consecutive opportunities beginning with 12:29 left in the second stanza. Keefe blitzed to the right post and powered a shot that bounced off Donohue's chest. Six seconds later, Crowther collected the loose ball and fired a bid that bounced off Donohue's blocker.
• Neither side mustered a chance over the final 12:29 of the half as the Panthers held the one-goal edge at the break.
• Bates tallied the first shot of the third session at the 37:37 mark. Rose Gordon hustled into the circle and swept a backhand bid toward the right post that Middlebury goalie Izzy Redzic saw the entire way and kicked away.
• Fuqua nearly added to the Panther lead with 1:03 left in the third. The midfielder cut inside and fired a shot that was blocked.
• Middlebury continued to test Donohue as the fourth quarter opened. Georgianne Defeo tapped a pass to Chandler for a point-blank bid that deflected off the goalie's chest at the 46:40 mark. Fuqua fired a rebound attempt that bounced off Donohue's blocker. 
• Bates turned up the heat with less than a minute to go. Elsa Copeland collected possession on the left post, but was stopped simultaneously by Keefe's stick.
• With 19 seconds remaining, the Bobcats earned a penalty corner and nearly scored. Brooke Moloney-Kolenberg cut to the right and sent a shot toward the right post. Keefe placed her stick down at the right moment to make the defensive save and seal the 2-1 triumph.

NOTES

• Chandler tallied her seventh multi-point performance of the year with a goal and an assist, while McCann added her sixth marker.
• Crowther dished out her second assist of the year.
• Keefe now has three defensive saves in a Middlebury uniform.
• The programs met for the 51st time with the Panthers claiming their 45th win in the series.

Middlebury closes its regular-season slate on the road against Williams on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m.