MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – The No. 1 ranked Middlebury field hockey team handed No. 25 Wesleyan its first NESCAC defeat of the season, as the Panthers scored all five goals in the opening half, cruising to a 5-1 win. Wesleyan (6-2, 3-1 NESCAC) suffers their first league defeat of the season after starting 3-0 for the first time in team history.
 
The Panthers opened the game with a flurry of chances, with three shots from three different Panthers coming in quick succession, but Audrey Pace '26 stood strong to deny all three close-range attempts.
 
Middlebury opened the scoring at the 5:23 mark as Hanna Medwar broke free down the right side and slipped her shot past Pace for a 1-0 lead.
 
Less than three minutes later, Middlebury doubled its advantage. Amy Griffin cut inside the arc and fired a long-distance reverse sweep that found the right corner, making it 2-0.
 
Middlebury added another goal and two more in the second quarter, taking a 5-0 lead into halftime.
 
Wesleyan looked to get on the board after 1:07 into the third quarter. Annabel Cincotta '25 fired a shot that was stopped by Middlebury goalie KK Newton. Helen Deretchin '25 gathered the rebound, but her bid was cleared off the goal line on a defensive save from Kelly Cooper.
 
The Cardinals scored their lone goal with 0:00 left on the clock. The visitors earned consecutive penalty corners with one second remaining. On the final play, Deretchin flipped a pass to Sarah Porter '27 who tucked home her shot from close range to bring the final score to 5-1.
 
Pace recorded a season-high 13 saves which is just one off her career-high. This is Pace's fourth career game with 10+ saves. Porter's goal is the third of her career.
 
A difficult stretch of games continues next week for the Cardinals as a trip to Tufts looms on Wednesday before hosting Amherst on Saturday and traveling to Bates on Sunday.