Courtesy of Brian Beard

The women’s soccer team (8–3–0; 3–3–0 NESCAC) stunned ninth-ranked Middlebury College (9–1–2; 4–1–2 NESCAC) 2–1 on October 4, handing the Panthers their first loss of the season. Goals by Kayley Huleatt ’28 and Jackie Shores ’28 secured the win for the Polar Bears.

The Polar Bears dominated the game in the early portion, with Huleatt’s goal in the 18th minute coming off of the team’s consistent offensive pressure.

“[It] shocked me in the first 15 minutes that we entirely dominated them,” goalkeeper Charlotte Iannone ’26 said. “I think that they thought that they could come and walk all over us.”

In the 68th minute, Shores’ goal solidified the Polar Bears’ lead, though Shores didn’t know that she was awarded with the score until after the game.

“I thought that [Huleatt] had hit [the ball] in,” Shores said. “I was debating just letting it go and us getting a throw-in, but I decided to cross it in one touch with my left [foot].

And, in doing that, I hit it right in the center of my laces, which I think was able to go up and over the defender’s heads until it eventually hit one and ricocheted it in.”

Iannone made eight saves against the Middlebury offense.

“I try to minimize the thoughts I’m having on the field to the point where I don’t even really feel like I’m thinking, because I just like to fall back on muscle memory and know that I don’t have to think through a shot,” Iannone said. “There’s no thoughts. I don’t think at all. I’m just doing. I get to that flow state.”

The game was highly physical, which aligned with the team’s preparation.

“It was one of our best 90 minutes that we played this season, and [we want] to carry that forward into our next game, but specifically to work on keeping that physicality up and how [we can] continue to pass through the middle and connect,” Shores said.

Shores also touched on how preparing for the game also included creating more opportunities to score.

“Another thing that we’ve been working on is our ability to finish in the final third and create chances in the final third,” Shores said. “I think last year we played pretty defensively. And this year we’ve really been focusing on how we can get to the final third and then further from there— how can we, as a team, play around the defenders to get to goal.”

The team hopes that its confidence from taking down Middlebury will carry through the rest of the regular season.

“I think we have to just embrace this feeling [that] we can take on any team that is put in front of us,” Iannone said. “I could feel it from everyone that everyone is completely committed and confident and knew that we could do it.”

The team has won its last four games, including a 2–0 win over Maine Maritime (9–5) and a big conference win over Trinity College (5–4–2; 1–4–1 NESCAC) last weekend. As the regular season comes to a close, the team continues NESCAC play at Wesleyan University (7–2–3; 2–2–3 NESCAC) tomorrow afternoon.