A win was not in the Cards against Wesleyan

Author: Andrew Donnantuono

The men's lacrosse team dropped its record to 7-4 when it fell 5-4 in overtime to Wesleyan on Saturday. The highly anticipated game certainly lived up to the hype.

Cardinal attack Russ Follansbee, who opened the scoring 4:47 into the contest, needed only 23 seconds in overtime to slam the door on Middlebury's hopes of winning a seventh consecutive NESCAC regular season title.

With the loss, the Panthers just missed out on a perfect 8-0 home-record and, with double-overtime losses to Colby and Trinity, they are still searching for that elusive overtime win.

With temperatures in the 70s, Saturday finally felt like lacrosse season. The game drew nearly 600 spectators, including many former players.

The win for Wesleyan was even sweeter because of this. Last May, defenseman Gabe Wood '06 ran the entire length of the field and scored a last second game-winning goal in the fourth quarter of the NESCAC championship game.

Wesleyan exacted a little revenge on Saturday and looked up to the task early in the first quarter. Although Middlebury enjoyed a 9-5 advantage in shots over the period, Wesleyan's zone made it difficult for the Panthers to get quality chances on goalie Charlie Congleton.

"Wesleyan does a great job defensively of covering things up inside and forcing shots," said Coach Dave Campbell '00. "When you do get a shot in tight you have to beat their goalie which we weren't able to do on Saturday."

Wesleyan drew first blood against the run of play when Follansbee won a groundball and fooled Middlebury goalie and Tri-Captain Alex Palmisano '07.

The lead did not last long, as Middlebury was able to hit back within three minutes, courtesy of a righty overhand bounce shot by Tri-Captain Nick Bastis '07. The goal, which Bastis buried low to the stick side on Congleton, was his 17th of the season. Two minutes later Middlebury took its first lead of the game. On a great individual effort, Tom Petty '09 - who is having a breakout season with 57 points - snuck around the cage, beating Congleton up high to put Middlebury up 2-1.

The lead was short-lived, though, as Jason Ben-Eliyahu tied the score at two.

The score remained that way until the fourth quarter. The last 15 minutes began with some controversy as face-off specialist and tri-captain Peter Mellen '07 was called for a push that the crowd vehemently disagreed with. Wesleyan's Mike Hines promptly took advantage of the flag when he scored off of a pass from Chris Jasinski.

Middlebury kept its cool and was back on level terms two minutes later when Skyler Hopkins '09 shot one past Congleton just under the crossbar. After the equalizer, the crowd sensed that Middlebury was beginning to press and maybe another was imminent. They got their wish when Wesleyan sophomore defenseman Spike Malangone was disciplined for a slash. Midfielder Mike Stone '09 scored from way out to put the Panthers up 4-3. Congleton had no chance of reacting to the shot and was beaten top shelf.

The Panthers wisely tried to kill the clock and the game by keeping possession, but the strategy backfired when they were forced out of the box with 1:14 remaining. The teams then exchanged turnovers on the clear by Wesleyan, but the Cardinals ended up with the ball in Middlebury's half with just over 50 seconds on the clock.

Jasinski then saved the day for Wesleyan, running directly at Palmisano and beating him with only 22 seconds to go in regulation. Jasinski quieted the crowd as roars erupted from the Wesleyan sideline. Middlebury actually had two shots to win it before overtime but neither found the mark.

Overtime was over seemingly before it even began. In a wacky 23 seconds, Mellen won the draw, took it down field and fired a shot, but once again Congleton made the stop. Then, with Middlebury's midfielders up in the Wesleyan half, the Cardinals quickly cleared it. Follansbee received the ball and walked-in on Palmisano, finishing low under Palmisano's stick for the win.