Men’s Lacrosse Nets a Win Against Nationally Ranked Dickinson

The Middlebury men’s lacrosse team traveled to Baltimore, MD this past weekend to play in the Mustang Classic. After suffering a 12-6 loss to conference foe, Wesleyan Cardinals, the Panthers rebounded and defeated nationally ranked Dickinson 16-11. 

After a 9-2 deficit in the first half of the Wesleyan game, Middlebury tried to surmount a comeback in the latter half of the game. Tyler Forbes ’22 scored quickly at the 12:32 mark to gain some Middlebury momentum. However, the Cardinals’ strong offense responded with two goals in a span of four minutes. Again, the Panthers stayed strong and were able to rattle off three unanswered goals coming from Frank Cosolito ’20 and two from Chase Goree ’20. Down five scores at the start of the fourth quarter, the team was shut down by great goaltending and stifling defense from Wesleyan. Middlebury struggled to get shots the entire game, firing only 17 and scoring six. Forbes and Goree led the team in scoring with two goals a piece. Charles Midgley ’19 played all 60 minutes in goal, saving 17 of the 29 shots coming from Wesleyan. 

Despite the loss to start the weekend, Middlebury came out very strong and motivated in the Saturday match-up against Dickinson. To no surprise, the Panthers came out red-hot, scoring the game’s first four goals. AJ Kucinski ’20 tallied two and the other contributions came again from Cosolito and Forbes. After Dickinson responded with three of their own, Forbes and Alderik vanderHeyde ’21 netted each of their own, putting the Panthers up 6-4 at the half. 

Just like the start of the game, Middlebury came out shooting in the second half and scored three within the half’s first four minutes. Senior captain Jack Gould scored a beautiful goal at the 13:14 mark, netting one far out and with pace. The goalie had no chance. Dickinson responded with three straight goals of their own yet still remained behind in a 11-7 contest. 

At the start of the fourth, Dickinson made it quite a game by closing the gap to just one goal. However, the hot offense of the Panthers picked up and they responded with three of their own, two coming from Forbes. With seven minutes to go in the game, the teams traded goals but Middlebury came out on top 16-11. They never trailed in the game. 

Forbes led the team in scoring with five, culminating to a total of 16 goals on the year. Jack Hoelzer ’21 fed the ball and tallied two assists on the day. Again, Midgley played all sixty minutes in goal, this time tallying nine saves on 20 shots. 

Men’s lacrosse holds a 2-3 record to begin the year. Their next contest will come against Bowdoin on Saturday, March 23. This is their first home game of the year, and they look to remain in the middle of the pact in the NESCAC conference.