Men's lax captures another nailbiter

Author: Jeb Burchenal

The Panthers traveled to Hartford for a NESCAC battle with the Trinity Bantams this past weekend. Playing in arguably the strongest conference in Division III men's lacrosse, the Panthers again found themselves pitted against a nationally ranked opponent. At 10-3, the Bantams came into Saturday's contest ranked 19th in the nation. The Panthers, sporting a record of 10-1, reclaimed the third spot in the national rankings. The Panthers clinched the top seed in the upcoming NESCAC tournament with a 12-11 win against Trinity.

The Panthers drew first blood on a Tom Petty '09 goal in the first minute of the game, but the lead would be short lived as the Bantams strung together a four-goal counter in response to take a 4-2 lead.

"We came out a little slow in the first half and paid for it," said Charlie Schopp '10.

For the rest of the game, the two teams were playing 'call and response.' The Bantams went up by a goal only to see the Panthers respond and tie the game again. The Panthers broke out of this trend with eight minutes remaining, as Chris Teves '10 and Tri-Captain Mike Stone '09 buried back-to-back goals to put the Panthers up 11-9. But the Bantams did not relent and fought back to tie the game at 11.

"We can always count on [Stone] to make the big play and he is the guy we want with the ball when the game is on the line," said Tri-Captain goalie Pete Britt '09.

True to his reputation, Stone shouldered the responsibility of being the game-changer for a championship contender. His goal, with 26 seconds remaining, proved to be the game-winning tally as the Panthers claimed a 12-11 victory. This season, Stone has truly emerged as a vital Panther weapon. Averaging just under four goals and one assist per game is impressive, but considering that he has scored four game-winning goals on the season, including two that broke ties with under a minute left, it is obvious that his play elevates a good Middlebury team to contender status.

The Panthers ran up three penalty minutes, thanks to the aggressive play of Matt Rayner '12, who had two minutes on his own. Despite the penalties, the Panthers were able to stymie the Bantam offense and hold them without an extra-man goal.

Though the Panther defense gives up a surprisingly high number of goals for such a top-tier contender, it epitomizes the team's "bend, don't break" strategy. The efficient Middlebury offense can tally high scores against any team which affords the defense some margin for error.

"On defense, Mike Quinn played real well," continued Britt. "He got the game ball for his solid defense and big slides. He almost knocked a guy out on one of his slides, - it probably was the biggest hit of the year."

With the NESCAC tournament opening this weekend, the Panthers will start their run toward a national championship. For all that they have accomplished, the Panthers will be the first to admit that the regular season only sets you up for the post-season. They look to avenge their NESCAC tournament loss of last year as they play their final regular season game against Williams, April 24.

"Williams is always a tough game," added Schopp. "They have some great players and, like every other NESCAC team, relish the chance to knock off Middlebury. At this point in the season, we can't take any game lightly and need to come out playing hard with all cylinders firing. We are almost at the point where we will be playing to keep our season going. That is a huge motivator for the team as we all want to extend our time together, especially the seniors who have so little time left with the program."