The fifth-ranked Middlebury women's ice hockey team recorded Friday's last four goals, turning a 1-1 contest midway through the third period into a 5-1 triumph over #9 Williams. 
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• The Panthers had a quality chance with 2:36 elapsed in the first period. Britt Nawrocki gained the zone, firing a wrist shot from the left dot that Eph goalie Erin Pye pushed aside with her right pad.
• Middlebury continued its pressure, rattling off four shots over a minute. The best opportunity came when Susannah Ward ripped a bid from the blueline that Pye saved.
• Williams looked to take the lead at the 6:09 mark. Chloe Noxon pounced on a loose puck between the circles and laced a knuckling shot. Panther netminder Sophia Will denied the shot with her left pad.
• The visitors buzzed the zone and broke the scoreless tie with 11:58 gone. Ward gathered a pass in the left circle from Alison Giebler, lifting a shot that found space in the right side of the net for the 1-0 lead.
• The Ephs earned a power-play chance with 4:58 left in the period. Reese Luber sent a puck toward Will from the left boards, but the goalie thwarted the chance.
• Noxon corralled a loose puck in the neutral zone and skated toward Will, but her rising bid was saved with the senior's glove with 2:43 gone in the middle stanza.
• Williams challenged with a five-on-three chance about two minutes later, as Luber roped a sharp-angled attempt that Will blocked with her body at the 4:51 mark.
• The hosts had a great chance with 13:08 expired when Annie Gallagher tried to muscle in a bid from the right side. Will stood her ground on the post to deny the shot
• Maeve McAdams found space behind the Eph backline with 2:53 showing on the clock, but Pye pushed out of her crease and stoned the rising shot.
• Williams nearly knotted the contest with 11 seconds left, racing in two-on-one. Will slid across the paint and saved a one-timer from Noxon to preserve the one-goal edge.
• Williams tied the game with 1:50 gone in the third frame. Gallagher weaved through the zone and lifted a shot that found a sliver of space under the bar.
• The Ephs nearly grabbed the advantage with two great chances that Will thwarted, spanning 1:40 of action. Zoe Rosenberg muscled toward the crease and the netminder rose to deny the opportunity on the right post. The second saw Noxon skate in one-on-one after a turnover, but the senior captain made a sprawling stop.
• The Panthers regained the lead four seconds short of the midway point. Alyssa Frazier roped a shot from the right point that was tipped by Kate Flynn and redirected into the right side for a 2-1 advantage.
• Seconds after Will made a save with her toe, the Panthers took advantage of an Eph miscue. Olivia McManus rifled a bid from the point that worked through traffic and squeaked past Pye for a 3-1 lead with 4:33 remaining.
• Williams pulled Pye in favor of an extra skater with 3:21 left, but Nawrocki and Trinity Walsh cashed in empty-net tallies for the final 5-1 decision.

NOTES

• Five players tallied a goal in the triumph, while Nawrocki, Ward and Walsh finished with two points apiece.
• Will finished with 24 saves in the victory, giving her 407 this winter. She surpasses the 400-save plateau in a season for the second time in her career.
• The programs played for the 94th matchup, with the Panthers holding an 82-7-5 advantage in the series. Middlebury improves to 10-1-1 in the last 12 contests against the Ephs since the start of the 2019-20 season.

The Panthers complete the home-and-home series tomorrow when they host Williams for a 7:00 p.m. puck drop.