The ninth-ranked Middlebury women's soccer team fell to Wesleyan by a 4-1 final score in Saturday's season opener.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Harper Cohn opened the scoring for the hosts in the sixth minute, stepping to a one-time feed from Taylor Hill and uncorking a rising bid that ricocheted off the bottom of the crossbar and into the left side of the goal for a 1-0 advantage.
- The red and black doubled the lead with 31:35 remaining in the first half. Savannah Hyon dialed up a ball into the box from near midfield that Maria Utz redirected into the upper-left quadrant, establishing a 2-0 tally.
- In the 30th minute, Sheridan Snow set up for a free kick and directed her shot toward the lower-left side, where Panther goalkeeper Frankie Marston snuffed out the try.
- Lanee Farr widened the margin to three with 7:26 to go, bending an attempt into the back panel from 20 yards.
- With 3:52 expired after the halftime break, Marston maintained the three-goal difference by smothering a skimming shot from Kerenza Leahey.
- Suzanna Fee hoped to trim the lead in the 59th minute, but her chipping try was plucked by Cardinal netminder Maggie di Rienzo.
- With 16:56 to play, Hill and Utz joined forces once more to manufacture Wesleyan's fourth tally.
- Mariana Rode notched Middlebury's first goal of the fall in the 84th minute, settling a delivery from Gigi Day and tucking a high shot under the crossbar (4-1).
- Laila Foose sent a long ball into the box with 4:01 left, but di Rienzo secured the ball before a darting Panther could apply pressure.
- Chloe Swindle fired a final bid toward the upper portion of the net with 88:29 gone. Di Rienzo denied the opportunity to secure the 4-1 decision.
NOTES
- Rode logged her third goal as a Panther.
- Marston amassed a career-high six saves in her eighth start between the posts.
- Saturday marked Middlebury's first opener against a NESCAC foe since the 2013 campaign.
- The result halted the program's streak of 11 consecutive season-opening triumphs.
- The Panthers and Cardinals squared off for the 42nd time.
Middlebury concludes its two-match road stint against Union (N.Y.) on Tuesday, September 8. Kickoff is set for 5:00 p.m.
