Men's lacrosse tilting toward NESCAC glory Panther men notch conference wins against Trinity (12-7) and Colby (14 - 3)

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Momentum is such a precious commodity at all levels of sporting competition. It has the power to carry a team like the Red Sox from 0-3 against the Yankees to a sweep of the Cardinals little more than a week later. Yet it remains desperately hard to attain, even harder to keep and if lost, can ruin a season. Thankfully, the men's lacrosse team currently has it in bucket-loads.

This past week the Panthers picked up two more wins. The first came courtesy of a comfortable win at Trinity and the second was a ruthless demolition of Colby on the same field.

The pair of wins take the Panthers to a commanding 10-1 on the season, and extended their winning streak to eight consecutive games, stretching back to a defeat more than a month ago at the hands of Gettysburg.

Trinity, coming into the game 2-6, was a heavy underdogs, but could not be taken too lightly on their home field. Indeed, the Bantams established themselves on the game in the first quarter, taking a 2-1 lead into the break.

The Panthers came out for the second frame a completely different team and netted six goals, with just two in reply. Co-captain Dave Leach '05 bagged a goal with a little more than seven minutes on the clock that saw the Panthers ahead for the first time. Trinity was never able to recover, and trailed 7-4 at halftime.

The second half saw a drop in the goal activity as the Panthers seemed content to settle for the win without running up an astronomical score. Trinity was able to cut the lead to two in the third quarter before Middlebury ran off four consecutive goals, including a man-up strike from J.P. Coviello '06, to put the game beyond doubt as time began to slip away from Trinity. To cap another Panther victory, Mark Foster '05 netted his third goal of the game for Middlebury as the men ran out comprehensive 12-7 victors.

The very next day, the Panthers were required to pick themselves up and go to battle once more. This time, Colby lay ahead for Coach Erin Quinn's men, which came into the game in fine form itself. Fatigue was always likely to be a factor in the game, so it was crucial that the Panthers got off to a fast start.

Quinn could not have wished for a better start for his team as they raced out to a 5-0 lead in the first quarter - a tally that always looked like it would be good enough for the win. The second quarter was considerably closer, with the teams sharing three goals apiece, but when halftime came around and the Panthers led by a scoreline of 8-3, few would have bet against the Panthers. As it turned out, the Middlebury defense ensured that Colby never got a look in. Despite making 18 second-half shots from , Colby was not able to penetrate the Panther rearguard again and Middlebury succeeded in shutting them out for both the third and fourth quarter.

The third quarter actually yielded no goals to either team, before the Panthers ended the game with a fourth-quarter explosion of scoring similar to that with which they began the game. Nick Bastis '07 tallied three goals for the Panthers, while Jim Cabrera '08 and Coviello each added two of their own. Middlebury's sophomore goaltender Alex Palmisano made six saves in goal, the same tally he had the previous day against Trinity.

As the season gets to the business end, every game assumes more and more importance. The Panthers conclude their season with a game at Williams before hosting Bates to end the regular season. Time will tell where they stand when post-season seedings are set, but if the Panthers can maintain their current momentum it just won't matter.