'Lax'adaisical beginning ends with 3-2 win

Author: Jeb Burchenal

The Middlebury men's lacrosse team improved to 2-0 this weekend as it beat Connecticut College on March 15 in New London, Conn. The rain that had persisted all morning finally let up, allowing the 11th-ranked Panthers to take on the unranked Camels. The rain, however, did make for a sloppy, wet playing field.

The first half was fairly unmemorable, characterized by dropped passes and an incredibly slow pace imposed by the home team. Neither team managed to get on the scoreboard until late in the second quarter, when attack Jim Cabrera '08 buried a one-timer off of a pass from Mike Stone '09 when the Panthers had a man advantage.

For the first half, the Panthers were one-for-three with the man advantage while they held the Camels scoreless in two attempts - including a three-minute, unreleasable penalty when Skyler Hopkins '09 was caught with an Illegal Crosse.

In the second half, the Panthers began to figure out the Camel's zone and started to get more high-percentage looks at the cage. Attacks Tom Petty '09 and Matt Ferrer '09 combined for a goal that doubled the lead only two minutes into the second half. The Camels responded with their stall offense and eventually came back with two goals of their own to tie the game going into the fourth quarter.

Hopkins atoned for his costly penalty, though, by scoring what proved to be the game-winner three minutes into the final period.

From the outset, it was evident that the Camels were scared of the potent Panther offense. They took to the field in a 3-3 zone defense in an attempt to limit the penetration that Middlebury uses as a catalyst for its offense. Much like the zone that Wesleyan used to throw off teams last season, Conn. College's zone stumped the Middlebury offense that put up 14 goals against Bates only a week ago.

"The offense flows through Cabrera and Stone, and the zone cut off some of the dodges that make them so effective," said midfielder Zach Harwood '10.

The motion offense that the Panthers have adopted this season is not designed to match up against a zone, but regardless of what kind of defense they are up against, players still need to step up and hit shots. Shooting was not a Panther strength during the game, to say the least. Stone and Cabrera, both Honorable Mention All-Americans from a year ago, were a combined one-for-19 shooting on the day.

On the offensive end, the Camels rarely turned on the pressure and opted to play a style that could only be described as stalling. The Panther defense allowed only 17 shots, of which only six made it on target. Pete Britt '09 is proving game by game that he can fill the shoes of last year's stud goalie Alex Palmisano '07, as he contributed four saves on six shots, two of which came in the final stanza.

Though the game was sloppy, Middlebury executed on the often-overlooked fundamentals that can decide close games like this one. Led by co-captain David Campbell '08, the Panthers won six-of-nine face-offs on the day. The team was also able to clear the ball 92 percent of the time, including a stretch of 13-for-13 in the second half.

"It has been really good to start off with two solid NESCAC road wins," said Harwood, "but we still have a long way to go if we are to end up where we want to be."

The team looks to continue its undefeated streak as it takes on Bowdoin this weekend and then plays at Washington and Lee on March 25, during spring break.