No. 11 Midd Doubles Wesleyan; Bullets Next
from press release
MIDDLETOWN, Conn. - Visiting Middlebury College (1-1, 1-1
NESCAC) built an 8-2 lead in the first half and did not allow
homestanding Wesleyan University (2-4, 0-2) to get closer than four
the rest of the way as the Panthers defeated the Cardinals, 14-7.
It was the 10th consecutive victory for Middlebury over Wesleyan as
the Panthers have yet to drop a game to the Cardinals since first
meeting in 2001.
Senior Dana Heritage paced the Middlebury offense with four goals
while junior Sally Ryan had a five-point game with a goal and four
assists. Junior Chase Delano chipped in with a hat trick while also
grabbing five draw controls. Sophomore Stephanie Gill also had five
DCs as Middlebury controlled 17 of 23 draws. The shots total
favored Middlebury by a slender 34-29 margin.
Wesleyan got three goals from junior Jess Chukwu, who leads the
Cardinals with 15 goals this season. Sophomore Eileen Gaffney added
two for the home squad. The Cardinals converted four of 11
free-position opportunities in the contest, two by Chukwu and one
by Gaffney. Middlebury put home three of seven free-positions, two
by Heritage.
The Panthers jumped ahead 5-0 after 14 minutes of play with five
different goal scorers. Wesleyan cut it to 5-2 before a three-goal
run made it 8-2 for the visitors. Wesleyan cut the difference to
five at intermission, 8-3. When senior Charlotte Hastings got the
opening goal of the second half for Wesleyan at 27:52, the
Cardinals got as close as 8-4. The next three goals belonged to the
Panthers behind tallies from Delano and a pair from Heritage,
making it 11-4 with 18:00 to go. The teams traded goals to the
finish.
Both goalies had solid efforts as sophomore Lily Nguyen stopped 12
of 19 Cardinal shots on net. Sophomore Maggie Drowica gathered 14
saves in the Wesleyan net.
Wesleyan's next game takes the Cardinals to NESCAC rival Bates
Sat., March 27. Middlebury is back in action Tues., March 23 with a
stern test, visiting third-ranked nationally Gettysburg. Middlebury
is ranked 11th in this week's national poll.
