Men's lacrosse ends season with 17-10 victory

Author: Zamir Ahmed

The Middlebury men's lacrosse team wrapped up their regular season this past week on a high note, notching its ninth and 10th straight wins of the season and claiming the top seed in the NESCAC tournament. The Panthers head into this week's tournament with a 12-1 overall record and the chance to win their fifth straight NESCAC title on their home field.

On April 27 the Panthers traveled to Williams College to take on the Ephs, who came into the game with a record of 7-5. While most observers expected Middlebury to steamroll over Williams, the Ephs had other ideas and ended the first period with a 3-2 lead. The Panthers quickly regained their dominant form, outscoring the Ephs 11-2 over the next two quarters to take a 13-4 lead. The game was never in doubt after that and the Panthers walked away with a comfortable 17-9 victory.

The win was an all-around team victory, with 15 different players scoring for the Panthers. First-year Jim Cabrera and Jamie Duke '05 led the team with each netting two goals apiece. Alex Palmisano '07 had an amazing game in goal, making 12 saves before turning the net minding duties over to backups Ned Courtemanche '05 and Matt Levy '05.

On April 30 the Panthers returned to their home field and prepared to go to battle with Bates College in the season finale for both teams. The Bobcats entered the game with an 8-3 record and were looking to improve on their conference standing in preparation for the NESCAC tournament.

The teams played a tight first quarter, exchanging goals to finish the frame knotted up in at 2-2. The Bobcats came out hot in the second period and took an early one-goal lead with a score of 4-3. The Panthers were not ready to see their nine-game winning streak snapped and dug deep within themselves. Co-captain Dave Leach '05 provided a jumpstart to the Panther offense, putting one by the Bobcat goalie to equal the score at 4-4. Leach's goal set off a run of five unanswered goals by three different players as the Panthers built an 8-4 halftime lead.

Coming out in the second half the Bobcats managed to cut the deficit to three but that was as close as they came. The Panthers rattled off six straight goals to take an insurmountable 15-6 advantage and closed out the game with a 17-10 victory. Duke and Henry Sheehan '06 each tallied three goals apiece and Palmisano and Levy combined for six saves. Perhaps the most impressive statistic for the Panthers was their 51-23 advantage in shots - just one example of their dominant performance.

The Panthers will now play host to the NESCAC tournament, a happy upside to being the number-one seed in the tournament. The Panthers' semifinal game will be a rematch of their season finale as they take on Bates, who upset second-seeded Bowdoin in their first-round game. The game begins at 12:00 p.m. at Youngman Field in Alumni Stadium on May 7, If the Panthers win that game they will advance to the championship game on May 8 against the winner of the other semifinal between third-seeded Amherst and fourth-seeded Wesleyan.