The #1 Middlebury field hockey team tallied four goals in the first half en route to a 5-1 triumph over #3 Babson on Sunday afternoon at Peter Kohn Field. With the National Field Hockey Day win, the squad has now claimed 59 consecutive non-conference games.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Middlebury struck with 8:19 elapsed off a penalty corner. After Ellie Harrison inserted the ball, Claire McMichael cut right and sent a quick pass to Megan Fuqua. The Panther readied and fired a shot that tucked inside the left corner for a 1-0 edge.
• The hosts added another at the 17:23 mark. Grace Keefe slipped the ball to McMichael near the top of the circle. Fuqua took possession and took two steps in before finding the right side of the cage to make it 2-0.
• Emma McCann and Fuqua kept the pressure on about a minute later with back-to-back bids that Babson goalie Madison Tibbals stopped.
• Middlebury extended its lead with 4:06 left in the second. Georgianne Defeo blitzed down the left sideline before colliding with a Beaver defender, leading to a penalty stroke. Fuqua stepped up and tallied her hat trick down the middle of the cage.
• The Panthers tacked on the squad's fourth goal of the half with 28:42 elapsed. Sarah Bona came into the game and surged down the left side of the field with possession. The forward centered the ball to Emma McCann, who popped it back out to the left. Bona won the race and tapped it into the cage for a 4-0 lead at halftime.
• Penny Baroni manufactured Babson's first shot at the 33:29 mark, but a Middlebury defender blocked her bid.
• The Beavers kept possession in the Panther defensive end and tried again 24 seconds later on a shot from Emma Smith that sailed wide right.
• Babson found the back of the cage off a penalty corner at the end of the third stanza. Anna Bonazzoli collected the ball on the right side of the circle and sailed a cross-body shot that snuck in the left side of the cage. 
• Middlebury closed the scoring with 11:08 remaining. McMichael and Fuqua hooked up with a give-and-go that slipped into the cage for the 5-1 final score.

NOTES

• Fuqua recorded a career-high four goals and eight points in the victory. She becomes the first Panther in two years to have four markers in a contest.
• McMichael handed out three assists in the win, which is tied for the second-most in a game in program history.
• The Panthers have won nine consecutive matchups with the Beavers dating back to 2018.

Middlebury jumps back into NESCAC play, hosting #11 Amherst on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.