AMHERST, Mass. – Amherst College's Christy Forrest '16 was sensational between the pipes and made 15 saves, but a goal by Middlebury College's Bridget Instrum 1:48 into overtime lifted the second-ranked Panthers to a hard-fought and thrilling win over the ninth-ranked Purple & White in Saturday afternoon's NESCAC women's lacrosse contest at Pratt Field.

RECORDS
Middlebury (9-0, 5-0 NESCAC)
Amherst (5-2, 2-2 NESCAC)

FIRST HALF HIGHLIGHTS

• In an evenly contested game throughout, Instrum got the scoring started for Middlebury at the 24:48 mark of the first half.
• Amherst answered through Claire Cagnassola '17 who netted back-to-back goals at the 23:15 mark, and again at 16:34 to give the Purple & White a 2-1 lead. Rachel Passarelli '16 and Coco Kusiak '17 provided the helpers on the respective goals.
• The Panthers responded less than a minute later when Instrum netted a free position shot to even the game at 2-2 with 15:40 to play in the opening stanza.
• Mia Haughton '16 then scored an unassisted goal, before Laurel Pascal answered 37 seconds later to make it 3-3 with 6:51 on the clock.
• With time running down in the half, Haughton struck for her second of the game with just 53 ticks remaining to give the Purple & White a 4-3 edge at intermission.
• The Panthers held a 12-7 advantage in shots in the first 30 minutes, as Forrest made eight of her 15 saves in the frame.

SECOND HALF HIGHLIGHTS

• A quick start by Amherst saw the hosts take a 5-3 lead when Cagnassola capitalized on a free position attempt at the 27:39 mark, but Middlebury soon responded when Pascal netted a free position try of her own to make it 5-4 with 25:22 remaining in regulation. The goal also came on the man-advantage for the Panthers.
• Cagnassola scored again on a nice feed from Passarelli in the 22nd minute to extend the lead back to two at 6-4.
• Middlebury delivered a pair of unassisted scores in a span of less than five minutes as Emma McDonagh and Hollis Perticone each found the back of the net to make it 6-6 with 14:25 to play in the contest.
• Haughton fired in her third goal of the game in the top right corner following a dish from Caganassola at the 12:14 mark to give Amherst a slim, 7-6 lead.
• Sara DiCenso then found Megan Griffin with 10:34 remaining to make it 7-7.
• With under five minutes to play in regulation, the Purple & White were awarded a free position attempt and Katie Mandigo made a critical stop on Passarelli's shot on goal.
• Forrest then denied Instrum's shot with nine seconds left on the clock, and then thwarted another attempt three seconds later on the free position to keep the game locked at 7-7 forcing a period of extra time.

OVERTIME HIGHLIGHTS

• Middlebury won the opening draw of the extra session and with 4:12 remaining in the period, Instrum struck for the game-winner, lifting the Panthers to a thrilling victory.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Forrest picked up six ground balls to go along with her 15 saves and also caused a pair of turnovers in the losing effort.
• Passarelli, Hanna Krueger '17 and Rowena Schenck '18 added three ground balls each, while Schenck also caused a pair of Middlebury turnovers.
• Mandigo made six saves in the winning effort, while Pascal, Chrissy Ritter, and Alli Sciaretta notched three ground balls each. Ritter also forced three turnovers in the win.
• Pascal won five draw controls as the Panthers held a 12-5 edge in the category.  

UP NEXT

• Amherst returns to NESCAC play Wednesday, April 6 when it hosts Wesleyan University at 6 p.m. at Pratt Field.
• Middlebury hosts Hamilton College, Wednesday, April 6 at 5 p.m. in league action in Middlebury, Vt.