Panther Attack Quiets Surprising White Mules

Author: David Freedman

The Middlebury men's lacrosse team opened its New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) regular season with a solid 9-5 win this weekend over nationally ranked Colby College.
The Panthers, however, still had problems finishing off their scoring chances. The team took control of the game through persistent defensive efforts on all sides of the field that generated more and more possessions for the Middlebury offense.
Head Coach Erin Quinn pointed to the play of Tom O'Connor '04, a long stick middie who ignited the Panthers with a vicious open field hit in the first quarter, and David Leach '05, a defensive middie who excelled at pushing the ball in transition, as representative of the team's ability to play "stifling defense." While the long and short stick defenders applied more and more pressure to Colby's offense, Middlebury's attackmen "rode their defenders trying to clear the ball very well. Their on ball pressure created turnovers that earned us extra possessions."
Mike Saraceni '04 was one of the many Panthers to take advantage of these opportunities. With one goal and four assists on the day, Saraceni picked apart the Colby defense with outstanding passes and penetration. Saraceni opened the scoring for Middlebury three minutes into the first quarter by picking up his own rebound and surprising Colby's goalie with a quick, unexpected behind-the-back shot. Colby would quickly knot the score at 1-1 off a turnover and defensive miscommunication.
The Panther offense stalled for a few minutes until Saraceni found Mark Foster '05 from behind Colby's net for an easy dunk that put Middlebury up 2-1. Moments later Colby would tie the game on a powerful shot to end the first quarter.
At the start of the second quarter, with Colby's fans and team fired up, Middlebury would never look back. The Panthers rallied off six unanswered goals over two periods of play where Middlebury seemingly always had control of the ball.
After losing two of the first four face-offs, Captain Brian McGregor '03 stepped up his intensity and won 11 of the next 13. "We had a real strong day at the X," said McGregor. "Our wings did a real great job of picking up the ground balls." All of these ground balls along with the turnovers created by defensive pressure created the offensive tirade Middlebury went on in the second and third quarters. Greg Bastis '04 drove past a Colby defender to the net for an unassisted goal, Charlie Howe '04 added two of his own, Foster notched another and Ben Tobey '04 got into the mix as well, off a great speed move from behind the net.
Colby tried its best to put up a fight at the beginning of the fourth by putting up three quick goals to bring the score to 8-5, the closest the White Mules would get. Jon Sisto '06 extended the lead with the first goal of his Middlebury career by driving past two Colby defenders and bouncing home a three-yard shot that rendered Colby's goalie helpless.
With a good win under its belt, Quinn and McGregor still recognize that this team is relatively young and has plenty of room for improvement. "We're working hard day in and day out. That's the way we're looking at things, and that's the way we have to look at things" McGregor points out. "We have a young squad that will take time to get into the flow of things, but this weekend was a good step in the long path we have to take to get to where we want to be."