Addie Chandler converted a penalty stroke with 57 seconds left in overtime to give Middlebury a 1-0 field hockey victory over top-ranked Christopher Newport on Sept. 27.
The game at Harvard's Berylson Field in Cambridge, Massachusetts, ended Christopher Newport's unbeaten start. Middlebury, ranked sixth for the matchup, improved to 6-1; Christopher Newport fell to 7-1.
Chandler carried the ball from midfield during the extra period and was fouled from behind, earning the penalty stroke. She sent the winning shot into the lower left side of the goal in the first meeting between the two programs.
Middlebury's goalkeepers had kept the game scoreless through regulation. Izzy Redzic made one save before Madeline DiLemme took over. DiLemme finished with a career-high five saves in the final 39 minutes, 3 seconds, including three in the fourth quarter.
Christopher Newport's late chances included a shot by Hughlett with 34 seconds remaining in regulation. DiLemme also stopped close-range attempts by Hughlett and Riley Iasiello. The Panthers held Christopher Newport to six shots on target, its lowest total of the season.
The overtime finish completed a two-game stretch of winning goals for Chandler. A day earlier, the sophomore scored with 1:18 remaining in the third quarter of Middlebury's 2-1 victory over ninth-ranked Bowdoin.
The NESCAC named Chandler its player of the week on Sept. 28, her first such award. She had scored five goals over Middlebury's previous four games, including three game-winners, and had 13 points at the time of the announcement.
Middlebury's schedule places both of its next games at home. The Panthers host Colby at 11 a.m. on Oct. 3, followed by Endicott at noon on Oct. 4. Those games follow four consecutive wins, beginning with victories over Amherst and Hamilton before the Bowdoin and Christopher Newport matchups.
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