The #4 Middlebury women's ice hockey team had five players tally two or more points as the Panthers skated to a 6-0 win over Vermont State University Castleton on Tuesday evening.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Avery McInerny looked to get the Panthers on the board first with consecutive bids at the 7:50 mark that Castleton goalie Gianna McCusker snuffed out.
• Middlebury grabbed a 1-0 lead with 12 minutes remaining in the opening period. Olivia McManus found Trinity Walsh for a one-timer that sailed into the net.
• The Panthers added to their advantage 1:54 later. Britt Nawrocki lit the lamp after a strong feed from McManus to make it 2-0.
• Castleton applied some pressure at the 13:50 mark as Amanda Vaughn and Morgan Arscott had two quick shots in succession. Panther goalie Lauren Sobczak stepped up to make both stops.
• Caroline Thomas (17:15) and Susannah Ward (17:38) fired back-to-back bids to close the first period. McCusker denied both chances to keep it a two-goal deficit after the opening 20 minutes.
• Middlebury added to its lead just eight ticks into the second stanza. After the opening faceoff win by McInerny, Walsh collected the puck and tapped it back. The assistant captain sent it over to Thomas for the goal to extend the advantage to 3-0.
• The Spartans looked to trim the deficit immediately after the goal, firing three shots spanning 1:09 of action. Ward and Walsh stepped in front of the first two, while Sobczak added a save at the 2:52 mark.
• Middlebury made it a 4-0 game with 12:22 left in the second frame. Rachel Neyman lifted the puck into the net off feeds from Meg Simon and Liv Fernandez.
• The hosts tested Sobczak late in the period. Ellie Schliebener blasted a wrister that the netminder steered aside to keep the four-goal advantage heading into the third. 
• The Panthers tacked on two more tallies during the final frame, as Zoe Pincelli and McInerny found the back of the net 2:13 apart to seal the 6-0 shutout.

NOTES

• Ten different players logged a point in the contest, headlined by a goal and two assists each by McInerny and Walsh.
• McManus added a career-best three helpers in the win.
• Nawrocki, Neyman, Pincelli and Thomas each tallied their initial goals of the campaign.
• Sobczak stopped all 13 shots on target for her first shutout and win in net for Middlebury.
• The sides met for the 11th time with the Panthers tallying their 10th win in the series.

Middlebury jumps back into conference action with a weekend road slate at Wesleyan beginning on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.