The third-seeded Middlebury men’s lacrosse team fended off a strong sixth-seeded Williams side in a NESCAC quarterfinal game on Youngman Field at Alumni Stadium on Saturday, April 25. Not only did the victory mean that the Panthers’ season would continue into the semi-final round — a matchup with second-seeded Tufts at Amherst on Saturday, May 2 — but it means the squad successfully exacted revenge on a Williams team that had handed them a loss to end the regular season only three days before.
After each side scored to open the game, Middlebury went on a four-goal run started by Cal Williams ’15, who, after losing defenders with quick cuts in the heart of the Williams defense, tossed in a backhanded shot at 7:47. Naturally, however, the Ephs refused to go down easily and ended the quarter with a two-goal run of their own, the second of which came from attackman Steven Kiesel — who would go on to score seven on the day for the visitors — with a mere 13 seconds left to play.
Middlebury answered right back to start the second quarter when Sean Carroll ’16 converted in a man-up situation at 9:32 — a trend that has not always held true for the Panthers — off a Joel Blockowitz ’15 pass. Yet again the Ephs, led by Kiesel and his first half hat trick, answered right back with two more to close the quarter and set the score line at 6-5 in favor of the Panthers at halftime.
Just as the game had started, the second half began with the two sides scoring one apiece until Middlebury began to pull away, this time to the tune of three unanswered goals.
After a Jack Rautiola ’16 goal, Jack Cleary ’16 shook the defense by dodging left, something he rarely does. After Carroll’s second on the day, the Panthers held a comfortable four-goal lead that would last for mere minutes. Williams answered with a trio of their own — marked by another from the unstoppable Kiesel at 4:44 after a sloppy Panther turnover in their own zone — and one more from the senior, this time a simple dump-in on the crease with 22 seconds left, to end the quarter at 10-9 Middlebury.
In almost expected fashion, the historic NESCAC rivals yet again traded goals to open the final stanza. Kyle Soroka ’16 put the home side up by two at 14:06 until the answer at 11:52, a feed from behind the net finished by Eph Eric Kelley cut the lead right back down to one.
Following the goal, the imposing John Jackson ’18 — who earned NESCAC Player of the Week honors after two stellar games against the Ephs — stepped up for the Panthers to win yet another faceoff and groundball. On the day Jackson set career highs in each category by winning 27 of 30 faces for a ridiculous 90 percent success rate and scooped up an equally phenomenal 20 ground balls.
After Jackson took it all the way to score, Middlebury followed with two more as Henry Riehl ’18 cooly cleaned up a rebound at 10:30 and defenseman Eric Rogers ’18 scored his first career goal, one that would prove to be the decisive mark, off of a Jon Broome ’16 feed with 7:01 left in the game.
Yet again, the stubborn visitors answered with a three-goal run highlighted by Kiesel’s seventh with 1:56 left to keep the game close at 14-13. In the final minute of the game it was goalie Will Ernst’s ’16 turn to step up as Williams sprung Kiesel open for a clear mid-range look off a set play. After Ernst made the crucial save with only 30 seconds left, the Panthers were finally able to kill the clock and advance to the semis.
Middlebury advances to play Tufts in the semifinal round of the conference tournament. The Panthers fell 17-10 to the Jumbos in their season opener way back on Feb. 28. Since then, the Tufts squad — after winning the national championship a year ago — has fallen slightly in the national rankings after losing to both Bates and top-seeded Amherst during the regular season. The Jumbos were 15-12 winners over seventh-seeded Hamilton in another quarterfinal matchup.
