The Middlebury men’s lacrosse team earned its first NESCAC victory of the season with a 13-9 win at Connecticut College on Saturday, March 7.
After surviving a strong early push from the Camels, which involved a four-goal first quarter, the Panthers went on a tear in the second half that included a 6-0 run, eventually leading to the 13-9 win.
With the defeat Conn. College pick up their first conference loss of the season as their season record drops to 0-3. In so doing the Middlebury squad won their second consecutive game and improved to 2-1 on the season, and 1-1 in conference play.
Early in the game Conn. College’s Tucker Mscisz ’18 made a large impact, scoring the first two goals of the contest unassisted. Additionally, Ross Thompson ’17 recorded a goal and an assist in the game’s early stages to power the Camel offense. Leads, however, are not built exclusively on the offensive end.
In the first half, the Camels played a stifling zone defense which gave the Middlebury offense significant problems. Conn. also demonstrated stellar play between the pipes throughout the first half, which contributed to Middlebury’s struggle to find the back of the net. Middlebury had the last scoring chance of the half, but Conn. goaltender Bobby Bleistein ’16 made a terrific stick save in response to a Jon Broome ’16 shot from point blank range, allowing the Camels to enter the halftime break with a 6-4 advantage.
The second half, however, was an entirely different story as Panthers on both ends of the field steadily began to exert influence and take control of the game.
To start the third quarter Jack Rautiola ’16 continued his solid play with a goal assisted by senior Joel Blockowicz ’15, who would ultimately lead the Panther offense with six points on the day. In his first career start sophomore attackman Nate Smith-Ide ’17 notched two goals and two assists in the second half. Smith Ide’s contribution was certainly vital to the squad’s ability to play from a deficit and regain the advantage.
Just as Conn. College exhibited strong defensive play in the first half, the Panthers stepped up defensively in the second half to shift the narrative of the game.
After allowing six first-half goals, the defense tightened up to let in only three after the halftime break. When asked about this dramatic shift, defenseman Eric Rogers ’18 talked about an overall shift in the team’s mentality. According to Rogers the defense simply “started winning individual matchups” while the offense “maintained more possession due in large part to more faceoff wins.” The freshman defender also gave credit to Middlebury goaltender Will Ernst ’17, who solidified the Panther backline with 14 saves on the day.
The team extended their winning streak to three games on Tuesday, March 10 with a 13-11 victory over St. Lawrence University. Mid-week games are never easy, especially when a three and a half-hour bus ride is part of the equation, however, the Panthers were up to the task against a solid Saints squad who had won two of their last three matchups. In so doing, Middlebury avenged last year’s 14-7 loss with a 13-11 victory. Though not a NESCAC matchup, St. Lawrence competes in a high-quality conference, making the win crucial to the Panthers’ momentum as they continue their season.
In what is becoming a rather adverse trend, the Panthers went down in the first half but managed to pull out the victory through a second half comeback. Though they built an early 3-1 lead with goals from Joey Zelkowitz ’17, Jack Cleary ’16, and Jack Rautiola ’16, the Saints quickly stormed back with two goals apiece from Jeremy Vautour ’16 and Tommy Hovey ’15 as well as a first half hat-trick for Conor Healy ‘17. Had it not been for Tim Giarrusso ’16 with two early second quarter goals the game could have been out of reach at the half.
In a similar fashion to their last bout with Conn. College, Middlebury tightened up defensively in the second half to shut the Saints out in the third quarter and allow only three goals in the remainder of the game. On the other side of the ball, the squad dumped in four in the third quarter, as Cleary and Rautiola both scored their second goals of the day. First-year midfielder Henry Riehl ’18 added one goal as a part of the man-up unit, and Nick Peterson ’18 also got on the board, scoring his first career goal. With another solid day in net from goaltender Will Ernst ’17 and a quality day at the face-off X for John Jackson ’18, the Panthers ultimately pulled out another win to go to 3-1 on the year.
The Panthers return to action on Saturday, March 14 when last year’s regular season NESCAC runner-up Wesleyan travels to Middlebury.
