TROY, N.Y. – Senior captain Chrissy Ritter had three goals and an assist to lead the fourth-ranked Middlebury College women's lacrosse team to a 17-5 victory over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) on Tuesday at Renwyck Field. With the win, the Panthers improve to 2-0 on the season, while the Engineers drop to 1-1.

Ritter (Middlebury, VT/Middlebury Union)  was aided by junior Mary O'Connell (Norwell, MA/Norwell), who had two goals and two assists, while senior Bridget Instrum (Granby, MA/Williston Northampton) had two tallies and one helper.

RPI was paced offensively by junior Sophie Hager (Northport, NY/Northport), who picked up three goals, while freshmen Michelle Bolger (Williston, VT/Rice Memorial) and Maddy Aslansan (Philadelphia, PA/Springside Chestnut Hill Academy) each had one.

The Panther opened the game with a 3-0 scoring run over the first 3:20 of play. Senior captain Laurel Pascal (Greenwich, CT/Taft) netted her team-leading seventh goal of the year to get the scoring underway.

Hager then scored two of the next three goals to pull the Engineers to within 4-2, with 18:29 left in the first half.

Junior Bea Eppler (New Canaan, CT/New Canaan) sparked a 3-0 run from the visitors, however, to create a 7-2 cushion.

Bolger then notched her third marker of the season with 10:21 to go in the half, but a 3-0 spurt from the Panthers, including a goal and an assist from O'Connell, made it 10-3 at the half.

O'Connell and Aslansan traded goals to start the second stanza, before Middlebury recorded six of the final seven tallies in the game.

The Panthers posted a 28-12 edge in shots, including 12-3 in the second half. RPI had 25 ground balls to Middlebury's 14. Draw controls went to the visitors, 16-8.

Senior goalie Heather MacLauchlan (0-1) made two saves in the opening 18:51, before giving way to freshman Aleena Milinski (Beaver Falls, PA/Blackhawk), had five stops. Fellow rookie Rebecca Wilen (Mount Laurel, NJ/Lanape) had one stop on four shots.

Freshman Kate Furber (Essex, MA/Manchester-Essex) made five save for the Panthers.

UP NEXT:
The Engineers are back in action on Thursday, when they host Williams College at Renwyck Field (5pm).
Middlebury visits Tufts on Saturday (2pm).