Middlebury College's Laurel Pascal scored four goals and the nationally ranked No. 5 Panthers rallied for an 11-8 NESCAC victory against the Hamilton College Continentals at Middlebury's Kohn Field on April 2.
Box Score
The Panthers (8-1, 5-1 NESCAC) trailed 5-2 and 6-3 in the first half but they spanned the first and second halves with seven straight goals for the come-from-behind win. Middlebury suffered its only loss so far this season in the Panthers last time out -- an 11-10 setback at Amherst College -- on March 29.
Mary O'Connell scored all three of her goals during Middlebury's game-changing run. Bridget Instrum posted three goals and an assist and Chrissy Ritter added a goal. Pascal won three draw controls and Hannah Deoul was credited with three draws and three ground balls. Catherine Fowler scooped up three ground balls and caused two turnovers and Alyssa Palomba made six saves.
Katie D'Antonio '14 became the 17th player in Hamilton women's lacrosse history with 100 career goals. D'Antonio finished with two goals and one assist and has 101 goals for the Continentals (4-5, 1-5).
Emily Brodsky '14 chipped in two goals and one assist and Kathryn Maiorano '14 had one goal and one helper for Hamilton. Taylor Ryan '17, Margaret Gabriel '16 and Lauren Brady '14 scored one goal each. Alice Grant '14 picked up three ground balls, Anne McGarvey '17 caused two turnovers and Kari Koga '15 stopped a career-high 13 shots.
In the closing seconds of the first half, Instrum started the 7-0 Panther run when she forced a turnover and collected the ground ball. She raced behind the goal and scored on a diving shot from left to right with three seconds left. The Continentals still led 6-4 at the break.
Middlebury rattled off the first six goals of the second half for a 10-6 lead. Alli Sciarretta picked up an assist on O’Connell’s first goal during the run with a quick stick pass. Gabriel scored with 15:53 left and cut the Panthers' lead to 10-7. A goal by Pascal with 8:29 left pushed Middlebury's lead back to four. Hamilton’s Ryan put a shot in the back of the net with 3:23 left on a pass from D’Antonio for the final margin.
In the first half, the hosts took a 2-0 lead via an unassisted goal by Instrum and a goal by Pascal on a pass from behind the net from O’Connell. The Continentals rattled off five straight goals over a 10-plus minute stretch for a 5-2 advantage with 15:00 left in the half. D’Antonio and Brodsky had two goals apiece during the spurt.
Pascal pulled the Panthers within 5-3 after she scooped up a turnover near midfield and raced down the middle of the field for a quick shot to the upper-right corner with 8:06 remaining. Just over six minutes later, Brady gave the Continentals a three-goal lead again when she carried the ball through the offensive zone and laced a shot to the top-left corner.
The Continentals are on the road again at No. 18 Tufts University for another NESCAC game on Saturday, April 5, at noon.
