Panther Men to Host NCAA Tournament Opponent Springfiled College

Author: David Freedman

Middlebury's men's lacrosse team won its third straight New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Championship with outstanding overall play this past weekend in a 14-8 victory of Amherst College in the semi-finals and a 15-10 win over Tufts University in the finals.
The Panthers won an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, and will begin the defense of their three consecutive national championships this Saturday at 1 p.m. in Alumni Stadium against Springfield College.
"Our balance and depth across the board was the key to winning this weekend," Head Coach Erin Quinn said. "There was no one overall dominant offensive weapon. We just had a lot of contributors and different guys stepping up in different games."
The defense was stifling on both days, and for almost entire quarters Middlebury's opponents could not even retain a single possession in the Panthers' defensive end. "Eric Krieger '04 is excellent in the goal," Quinn added, "and continued his strong play this weekend, including his great outlet passing after saves. All of our long stick defenders played great, especially our four close defenders, Caleb Holmes '03, John West '04, Ed Brown '05, and Brian Phinney '05 rotating through the three spots."
Amherst gave Middlebury all it had in the first quarter, executing on almost all of its possessions to end the period up 5-3. Then the Panthers took over, only allowing three more goals the rest of the game, and torching the Amherst defense for 11 along the way.
Mike Saraceni '04 and Brian Gault '03 picked apart the Lord Jeffs' defense four minutes into the second, with both attackmen scoring goals off assists from each other. The Panther defense dug in and helped Middlebury's attack possess the ball for the next four minutes until Greg Bastis '04 found the back of the net from 10 yards after beating his defender. Bastis would beat the same defender and one other eight minutes into the third, with the score tied at 6-6, to give the Panthers the lead for good for his third goal on the afternoon. Saraceni scored twenty seconds later with Middlebury a man-up off a quick feed from Jon Sisto '06. Frissora picked up where Bastis left off, scoring his second goal of the afternoon after breaking down two defenders as well. Charley Howe '04 and Saraceni would each add two more before the day was over on unassisted goals to end Amherst's season.
Middlebury learned its lesson from the Amherst game, and put the pressure on the Jumbos from the start. With the game scoreless six minutes in, Bastis put away another powerful shot to put the Panthers up 1-0. A minute later Frissora fed Bastis for his second goal of the day and left Tufts' defense reeling. Moments later Jamie Duke '05 bounced one home, and soon after Gault go into the mix, capitalizing off an outstanding run from the defensive end by West.
The leaders of the team carried Middlebury the rest of the way. Captain Chris Davis '03 notched four timely goals on the day, playing one of his best games all year. Howe had four goals as well, and set up Davis and Saraceni for two assists. Howe put in three of his four goals in the second half, and his play helped ignite Panther runs all weekend.
Saraceni, added two of his own after putting home four goals against Amherst. Davis, Howe, and Saraceni helped clinch the Championship in the fourth quarter along with a quick split-dodge by Aaron Herter '06, each scoring a goal to keep the Jumbos at bay.
In the second half of both games Middlebury's defense, offensive talent, and overall athleticism proved too much for their opponents. Krieger was only beaten twice in the second half by Amherst, and turned long periods of time into scoreless droughts for the Jumbos. Captain Brian McGregor '03 won 19 of 26 face offs in the first game, and 18 of 28 in the second, that gave Middlebury's opponents fewer opportunities to score.
His play on the weekend earned him NESCAC player of the week, becoming the first Panther to win the award all season. The seniors on this squad, Captains Frissora, Davis, and McGregor along with Holmes, Gault and defender Cody Higginbottom '03 have never lost a game in postseason play.
"These guys are great contributors [to the team] with on field play and leadership, some vocal, some by example, some by their commitment and persistence in the face of not playing as much," Quinn said.