GRANTHAM, PA – 4th ranked and defending national champion Middlebury College shutout the University of Rochester field hockey team by a 4-0 score in the second round of the NCAA Division III Field Hockey Tournament on Saturday afternoon at Messiah College.
 
The #15 Yellowjackets end their season at 18-5, matching the most victories in a single season in program history and played in back-to-back NCAA Tournaments for the first time in school history.  #4 Middlebury improves to 15-4 on the year and will move on to the third round to face top ranked and host Messiah on Sunday.
 
Middlebury was able to capitalize on its penalty corners on Saturday, recording three of its four goals on set pieces, the first of which came in the sixth minute of the contest from Audrey Quirk.  Quirk was the inserter on Middlebury's first PC of the game and was able to slip a loose ball in front through the legs of Rochester goalie Gabrielle Cantley.
 

In the 10th minute, Rochester mounted its best offensive pressure of the game, generating two penalty corners, looking to score the equalizer.  Freshman Colleen Maillie recorded both shots, one on each PC, but both missed their target, one sailing wide while the other was blocked by the defense.
 
Following UR's pressure, the Panthers looked to counter, but strong play along the back line from UR's Courtney Dunham broke up any Middlbury runs into the offensive zone.
 
A Panther green card gave the Yellowjackets a player advantage in the 13th minute, and UR was able to capitalize to earn its third corner of the half, but again the Middlebury defense was strong on the play, blocking away a Sayaka Abe shot from the top of the circle.
 
Middlebury would then build the lead to 2-0 with the first of three goals on the day from Annie Leonard.  After a penalty corner, Leonard received the ball on the right wing and blasted a shot into the stacked pads of Cantley.  The ball rebounded right back to Leonard who lifted a shot to the top corner of the net to double the Panther lead.
 
It was Leonard again with a lifted ball to put the Panthers up 3-0 at the 53:06 mark in the contest.  Teammate Lauren Schweppe set up the play, receiving the penalty corner at the top of the circle and dribbling in a few steps to draw the defense.  She then dished out to the right wing where Leonard was open and saw her lifted shot sail into the top portion of the net.
 
The Panther offense and Leonard struck quickly again, scoring three minutes later.  This time, Grace Jennings sent a hard pass up the middle where Leonard took a backhand shot from the top of the circle.  The chance had just enough pace on it to trickle by UR's second half keeper Kiran Sundaram for the 4-0 lead.
 
In the ensuing minutes, the Yellowjackets made two outstanding saves to keep the score at 4-0.  With 12:18 left in the game, Jennings broke in on a semi breakaway for Middlebury, but Sundaram made a great diving stop to her left on the ball, keeping the Panthers off the board.  Less than a minute later, Amanda Bozorgi took a lifted shot off a short entry on a PC, but the ball was swatted out of the air by Alexis Wood on the goal line.  The DS was Wood's fifth of the year.
 
Rochester tried to increase the offense late in the game, but Middlebury's defense stood tall and did not allow a UR shot in the second half.  Overall, Middlebury outshot the Yellowjackets 12-4, but each team took a total of five penalty corners.
 
In the cages, both Cantley and Sundaram made two saves each.  For Middlebury, Emily Miller made one save, coming on a Maillie shot late in the first half.