The top-ranked Middlebury field hockey team eased to a 10-0 triumph over Vermont State University Castleton in its season opener on Tuesday at Peter Kohn Field.
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• Emma McNealy took an early breakaway toward the goal mouth and earned the Panthers' first penalty corner of the contest. Abigail Weidner cashed in on the opportunity, deflecting a blast from Grace Keefe into the cage to establish a 1-0 lead with just 54 seconds elapsed.
• Middlebury had another opportunity when Emma McCann intercepted the Spartans and had a shot blocked before drawing a chance from the endline, paving the way for Megan Fuqua to drive inside and thump the left corner to double the advantage.
• Fuqua nearly tallied her second goal on a penalty corner shot 51 seconds into the second quarter, but Castleton's Jess Smithson deflected the try behind her goalkeeper, Zoe Martin, to keep the margin at two.
• The Panthers made amends just 26 seconds later off a penalty corner. Weidner passed to Claire McMichael, who stopped the ball. Fuqua took possession and one-timed the shot into the left side of the cage for the 3-0 edge.
• Tacking on back-to-back bids, Addie Chandler sent a crisp through ball to Madaket Rzepka for Middlebury's fourth tally with 8:01 remaining in the half before punching a stick-to-stick pass in for her first three collegiate points in a two-minute span.
• With just under three minutes left in the half, McNealy slipped the ball into the cage, making it 6-0 at the break.
• Fuqua and Shawna Ferraro fired consecutive attempts on goal over the opening 15 seconds of the third frame, but Martin stifled both bids.
• Ferraro broke through with 6:11 remaining in the stanza, tapping in a feed from McMichael to widen the lead.
• Ellie Harrison buried her first marker of the season with a reverse sweep off Martin's glove into the middle of the cage to establish an 8-0 edge.
• Ferraro tacked on two more goals in the final quarter, tapping in a bouncer on the edge of the goal mouth at the 46:11 mark before guiding a backhanded pass from Hadley Crowther to complete her hat trick and cap Middlebury's 10-0 win.

NOTES

• Ferraro netted her first career hat trick to lead all Middlebury scorers in the victory.
• Fuqua posted her first multi-goal performance in a Panther uniform, scoring twice with one helper.
• Chandler recorded three points in her collegiate debut.
• Middlebury and Castleton played for the 34th time, with the Panthers holding a 28-4-2 advantage in the all-time series. Middlebury has won the last 16 meetings dating back to 1988.

The Panthers travel to New York for a pair of contests this weekend, taking on Hamilton on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. before a neutral site matchup against #15 Bryn Mawr on Sunday at 12:00 p.m.