After falling to archrival Williams Friday night, Amherst lost to visiting NESCAC foe Middlebury, 9-1, Saturday afternoon at Orr Rink.
Early on things looked good for the Jeffs, who took a 1-0 lead into the locker room at the end of the opening period. But the Panthers countered with five scoring strikes in the second and four in the third on their way to their second straight victory.
The Jeffs broke the ice 11:10 into the contest when senior co-captain forward Danielle Williams netted her first goal of the season, firing a sharp-angled wrister from the right circle through Panther first-year goalie Kate Kogut’s legs.
Middlebury answered with five second-stanza tallies. Junior forward Kristin Reid ignited the barrage, stuffing in a rebound on the power play. Senior defender Amber Neil chipped in another rebound with under two minutes remaining in the period, extending the Middlebury advantage to 5-1.
The visitors tacked on another four goals to seal the win. Reid completed her hat trick, ripping a wrister into the top corner of the net early in the third. Amherst senior netminder Heidi Alexander finished with 28 saves, while Kogut turned aside 14 shots for the Panthers.
With the loss, the Jeffs drop to 0-2 overall and 0-2 in conference play while fifth-ranked Middlebury improves to 2-0 and 2-0.
