Alex Palma out-duels Alex Palmisano '07

Author: Andrew Donnantuono

For men's lacrosse, 2007 has been a tale of two seasons. Undefeated at home (6-0) and winless on the road (0-3), Middlebury continued that trend last week with an 11-2 trouncing of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) at home on April 10 before losing in double-overtime 11-10 at Trinity on Saturday. With four regular-season games to go - including two against pace-setters Tufts and Wesleyan - Middlebury is tied with Williams for fourth place in the NESCAC.

Middlebury picked up where it left off against Amherst two weekends ago (when it assailed the Lord Jeffs with 59 shots) by beating RPI's goalie John Thibdeau four times in the opening quarter. Midfielder Rory Sanborn '08 opened the scoring when he fooled Thibdeau with a sidearm crank. The latter was beaten three more times, once through the wickets by a bounce shot from captain Nick Bastis '07. Bastis also assisted on the Sanborn goal.

Josh Secora pulled one back for RPI with 11:57 left in the second quarter. Middlebury and RPI then exchanged goals. First, Bastis picked up his second unassisted-goal tally of the afternoon at 8:10. Then, after a quick strike by Briggs Thompson following the intermission, Middlebury's defense threw a blanket on RPI and held them scoreless for the last 29:02 of the game. During that time, the Panthers went on a 6-0 tear against Red Hawks goalies Thibdeau and Ryan Michels. The Kohn Field faithful were treated to two goals and an assist from Mike Stone '09. Jim Cabrera '08 had an assist and a goal of his own on a powerful drive to the cage. Cabrera currently leads Middlebury with 27 points.

The defense made it a stress-free afternoon for Panther goalies Tri-Captain Alex Palmisano '07 and Pete Britt '09, who combined needed to make only 10 saves. The sole blemishes on an afternoon of pretty play were six penalties by Middlebury, none of which resulted in a man-up goal for RPI. The visitors were unbeaten coming into the contest.

On Saturday, Middlebury traveled to Hartford, Conn. to begin the final stretch of the regular season with the first of five consecutive NESCAC games. The 150 in attendance saw the Panthers and Bantams tussle back and forth in a hard-fought game. The score was tied after every period, and it looked as though the game was headed to triple-overtime until Kris Tedeschi won it for Trinity with :59 left. Tedeschi's goal was his fourth of the day and the only shot Trinity needed in the second extra session.

An extra ground ball recovery here or there and perhaps the team could have come back to Vermont with a win. Still, Trinity (7-3) put forth a noteworthy performance. Alex Palma played brilliantly in net, making 15 saves as he faced a barrage of 54 Middlebury shots.

With each game, the first-years continue to show signs of things to come, and the game against Trinity was especially indicative of this improvement. Nick Martell '10, Jeff Begin '10 and Pete Smith '10 each grabbed a point in the third quarter. Martell scored on his first shot of the season, when the Panthers were a man-up with 5:32 left.