Springfield, Mass. — September 15, 2009 — Despite falling behind midway through the first half, the No. 11-ranked Middlebury College field hockey team managed to defeat Springfield College, 2-1, tonight in a non-conference match at Springfield’s Amos Alonzo Stagg Field.

With the win, Middlebury is now 1-1, while Springfield falls to 2-2. Middlebury’s loss was to highly-ranked Tufts.

With 17:42 remaining in the first half, the Pride’s Meg Bradley, a junior midfielder from Cumberland, R.I., finished off a nicely-executed penalty corner, allowing SC to take a 1-0 lead. The assist went to junior forward Meagan Dobson (Longmeadow, Mass.).

But before the half could be completed, the Panthers struck back. The goal was scored by sophomore defender Heather Karpas (Greenwood Village, Colo.), with the assist doled out by junior forward Chase Delano (Greenwich, Conn.). That goal came with 8:30 left, and it was 1-1 at the intermission.

In the second half, Middlebury began to take more control and finally broke through with 12:56 remaining in the contest on a goal by sophomore midfielder Emily Blair (W. Vancouver, British Columbia).

For Springfield, sophomore goalkeeper Alison McCarthy (North Andover, Mass.) was credited with 12 saves, seven coming in the second half. Meanwhile, for Middlebury, freshman Madeline Brooks (Clayton, Mo.) registered four saves on the evening.

The Pride next plays at Connecticut College two days from now (Sept. 17) at 4:30 pm. SC will play its third consecutive NESCAC school when it plays at Amherst next Wednesday (Sept. 23) at 7 pm.