MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – Eleven different players scored as the nationally first-ranked Middlebury College women's lacrosse team defeated Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), 17-3, on Tuesday night at Kohn Field. With the win, the Panthers improve to 5-0, while the Engineers drop to 2-4.

The Panthers netted the game's first four goals, inside the opening two minutes, including two from sophomore Sarah DiCenso (Glastonbury, CT/Glastonbury).

RPI senior Allie Claroni (Reading, MA/Reading Memorial) got the visitors on the board at 2:53, burying a feed from classmate Sophie Hager (Northport, NY/Nortport) to cut the Middlebury lead to 4-1.

Sophomore Jenna McNicholas (Westport, CT/Staples) answered with two straight goals – 30 seconds apart – to push the Panthers' advantage to 6-1.

Claroni made it 6-2 with an unassisted tally at 10:04, before Middlebury scored twice to make it 8-2, halfway through the opening stanza.

Hager buried her team-leading 14th goal of the season with 11:21 to go in the half to draw RPI within 8-3. The Panthers again came back with two goals of their own to extend their advantage to 10-3 at the break.

A free-position chance for Hager went just wide with under 20 seconds remaining in the half.

Middlebury held an 18-6 edge in shots through 30 minutes, with Rensselaer committing 14 turnovers (7 caused). The Panthers also held a narrow 8-5 advantage in ground balls.

Sophomore Maddy Aslanson (Philadelphia, PA/Springside Chestnut Hill Academy) had a free-position try stopped early in the second half. The Panthers countered and pushed the lead to 11-3 on an overhand finish from sophomore Casey O'Neill (Burlington, VT/Burlington).

Senior Mary O'Connell (xxx) took the ensuing draw directly up field and sophomore Emma McDonagh (Reading, MA/Reading Memorial) buried her second goal of the game for a 12-3 edge.

Middlebury made it a double-digit lead (13-3), 10 minutes into the second half, scoring a delayed infraction. O'Connell slipped through a stick check a whipped a shot past sophomore goalie Rebecca Wilen (Mount Laurel, NJ/Lenape).

The Panthers went on to outscore RPI, 7-0, in the second half. Wilen, who played the final 38:39, after replacing starter Aleena Milinski (Beaver Falls, PA/Blackhawk) finished with five saves.

Freshman Julia Keith (North Andover, MA/The Governors Academy) had two stops in the first half for Middlebury, while junior Alex Freeman (Villanova, PA/Radnor) made two in the second half.

The Engineers are now idle until March 31, when they open Liberty League play against RIT at Renwyck Field (4pm). Middlebury visits Bowdoin for a NESCAC game on Saturday (12pm).