Middlebury Shut Out Williams 1-0 to Close the Regular Season at Peter Kohn Field
One goal. That was plenty for Middlebury.
Claire McMichael scored in the 13th minute at Peter Kohn Field on Tuesday night, and No. 2 Middlebury held No. 8 Williams scoreless the rest of the way for a 1-0 win to close the regular season. Williams didn’t manage a single shot in the second half. When a team that good can’t get a look at goal for 30 minutes, the game is telling you something.
McMichael worked her way into the circle and thumped a shot into the bottom of the goal with 2:47 left in the first quarter. It was her fifth goal of the season, and the fifth game-winning goal of her career. She nearly had another in the third, collecting a blocked shot and rattling the crossbar.
Williams had their moments early. Haley McAuslin nearly scored off the game’s first penalty corner, and goalkeeper Izzy Redzic had to dive and tip it away with her stick. Keira Harder tested Redzic again in the second quarter, and McAuslin came close once more in the dying seconds of the first half. Redzic stopped all three shots she faced, and Madeline DiLemme closed out the final 30 minutes. At the other end, Williams goalkeeper Ellie Smith made a game-high six saves, including two in the final minute of the third quarter. Nobody was getting a second goal past her. Nobody needed one.
The numbers around this ground are silly. Middlebury are now 94-6 in their last 100 games at Peter Kohn Field. They’ve won nine straight against Williams, and they lead the all-time series 39-21-3 across 63 meetings. Some grounds just belong to one team.
The result settles the seedings at the sharp end. Williams finish 10-5 overall and 6-4 in the NESCAC, and take the No. 4 seed. They host fifth-seeded Hamilton, 11-4 and 6-4 in the conference, at 11am on Saturday at Williamson Field. They’ve won seven straight against the Continentals dating back to 2019, so they’ll like the matchup. Amherst, the No. 7 seed after Tuesday’s 4-1 win at Trinity, travel to No. 2 Middlebury. And unbeaten Tufts, 15-0 after beating Bowdoin 1-0 on Tuesday, hold the No. 1 seed and host a quarter-final on Saturday. If Tufts win that one, they host the semis and the final on 7-8 November.
Williams will feel they left something out there on Tuesday. They controlled long stretches, and a team that keeps Middlebury to one goal has done most of the hard work. But the second half told the real story: no shots, no corners that mattered, no way through. Middlebury don’t need many goals. They just need the first one.
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