Middlebury College

The top-ranked Middlebury women's lacrosse team began its national title defense with a 17-4 victory over St. John Fisher on Sunday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.  
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• The Panthers jumped in front with 9:34 showing on the first-quarter clock. Haley Hamilton sent a crisp skip pass to Caroline Adams on the doorstep for the opening tally.
• The hosts increased their lead 54 seconds later. Siobhan Colin intercepted a pass while St. John Fisher was on a clear attempt, racing toward the crease and tucking her bid under the crossbar for the 2-0 advantage.
• The Cardinals looked to cut into the deficit on their next possession. Ellie Leisen worked her way from behind the goal line and fired a close-range shot that goalie Elizabeth Savage saved with her stick.
• Middlebury found the back of the net three more times to close out the opening stanza. Skylar Lach gathered a crisp pass from Adams to score from the doorstep at 5:05, while Parker Hanson recorded her first marker on a wraparound opportunity less than a minute later. The third tally came with 13 seconds remaining, as Colin rustled the left panel following a skip pass from Lach for a 5-0 lead.
• The Panthers continued their offensive precision in the second frame, kick-started by Hanson scoring inside the left post through 1:14 of play. 
• Adams found a cutting Lach in the middle of the fan, bouncing a shot into the right panel 29 seconds later, while Maeve Lee buried a free-position finish into the bottom corner with 11:53 showing for an 8-0 advantage.  
• Hamilton had a hand in each of the next two goals. She secured a nifty pass on the right post, one-timing a bid that went high to low with 10:36 left before the half, and fed Lach in transition to make it 10-0 two minutes later.
• The Cardinals broke through with 6:23 left in the stanza. Dharma Makarowsky found space in the Panther defense, depositing a bouncer into the net.
• Adams answered by dodging through the middle of the defense, depositing her shot into the upper-left corner 1:15 later.
• Kaley Griffin brought the visitors to within nine (11-2) with 3:06 remaining, burying a tough-angled shot over Savage's shoulder.
• Hanson completed her hat trick with 48 seconds left in the half, firing an underhanded look between the legs of goalie Maggie Cross for a 12-2 edge at the half.
• The Panthers recorded all four markers in the third quarter, including a pair from Maddie Ackerman and Hanson's fourth of the contest for a 16-2 lead.
• Britt Nawrocki put her name in the scoring column with 10:12 left, lacing a sidewinding shot into the left panel for a player-up tally.
• St. John Fisher tallied the final two markers of the contest with goals from Chelsea Lapota (6:32) and Leisen (5:07) for the 17-4 decision.

NOTES

• Nine different Panthers scored in the triumph, paced by a career-high four from Hanson. Adams (2G, 4A) and Lach (3G, 3A) each posted six-point outputs.
• All four goalies saw action in the contest. Savage played the first half and remained unbeaten on the season (19-0), while Annie Spring, Ruth Abdalla and Grace Smith each recorded minutes.
• Lucy Bishop posted a team-high three caused turnovers to go with a pair of ground balls and two draw control wins, while Emma McCann scooped up three rollers.
• Middlebury tallied a double-digit goal total for the 90th time in its last 92 contests.
• The Panthers and St. John Fisher have played three times, with each occurring in the NCAA Tournament. Middlebury won by a 12-9 count in the 2016 NCAA Second Round, while the Panthers secured an 18-5 triumph in the same round in 2024.

Middlebury faces #18 Rowan on Saturday in the NCAA Third Round from Peter Kohn Field.