Lax falls to Mules for first time in donkey's years

Author: Dickie Redmond

The Middlebury women's lacrosse team was defeated by Colby 10-8 this past Saturday in the semifinals of the NESCAC tournament at Kohn Field. The loss snapped an 88-game home winning streak for the Panthers, which dates back to their 1997 regular season in which the team lost to Williams 10-9 in its season finale. The loss is also the first for the team in the eight-year history of the NESCAC tournament. The Panthers, however, still have a chance to make up for their loss at the NCAA tournament, which starts this week.

"This weekend was disappointing for everyone on the team," said senior co-captain Katherine Entwisle '08. "We came at Colby hard in the first half and were leading by six, but Colby gained momentum and paralyzed our game - and ended up coming back and winning by two."

Middlebury opened its semifinal game against Colby with an unassisted goal in the first minute of play by Caroline Kirkendoll '09. Dana Heritage '10 scored the second goal just a few seconds later off of an assist from Sally Ryan '11 to give the Panthers a 2-0 lead. The Mules responded a few minutes later with an unassisted goal - shortening the Middlebury lead to one.

The Panthers finished the half strong with three uncontested goals in the last 10 minutes of play to post a 6-2 lead. Goals were scored by Mimi Schatz '08, Kirkendoll and Reid Berrien '08 - who scored off a free position shot with under a minute to play in the half.

The Mules actually outshot the Panthers in the half, but Blair Bowie '09 had an impressive 10 saves - 14 in all - to limit the opposition's scoring attempts.

Middlebury played well in the beginning of the second half, scoring two of the first three goals, but the lead was soon toppled by Colby, which dominated after the 20-minute mark.

Middlebury watched the Mules put together an impressive seven-goal streak to win the game late in the second half. Colby tied the game with 10 minutes to play and went on to score two more in the remaining time.

The Panthers suffered a hard loss as they held the lead for the majority of the game and seemed to dominate play from early in the first half.

The defeat came after a tough loss at Tufts the previous week, in which another winning streak was snapped. The Panthers had won their previous 76 conference games, which dated back to the 2000 season when the team lost to Amherst in regular season play. Although the Tufts game signaled the end of the team's winning streak, it marked a personal achievement for Entwisle, who scored her 100th career goal.

Colby went on to win the entire tournament on Sunday, beating Trinity 14-12. Again, the Mules came from behind to win the championship with an impressive four-goal run in the second half to lock the victory and earn a bid to the NCAA tournament.

Middlebury hopes to learn from its past two losses and put together a strong run in the NCAA tournament.

"I think that after this weekend, and after our loss at Tufts, the team is completely ready to do anything it takes to go far in the tournament," said Entwisle. "I know we seniors are not ready to end our season, for sure, and I know that the rest of the team feels the same."