Over spring break the Middlebury men’s lacrosse team traveled to Baltimore to play the second-ranked Rochester Institute of Technology at Homewood Field, the home of the Johns Hopkins Blue Jays. Though the trip was ultimately an unsuccessful one, resulting in a 21-11 defeat to end the Panthers’ six game winning streak, it marked only the second loss of the season. with the first coming at the hands of first-ranked Tufts.
The then 13th ranked Panthers were dominated in the game, as the Tigers won both the shot battle and the ground ball fight while successfully clearing at a phenomenal 80 percent rate. Though this marks the first win for RIT over Middlebury in three games in the all-time series between the two schools, it was no fluke, as it marked RIT’s 32nd consecutive victory.
The team, however, seemed to use the sting of defeat to forge a new level of motivation. In a quick three day turnaround the Panthers traveled to play Amherst on Saturday, March 28 where a NESCAC bout, against yet another nationally ranked top 10 team, proved to be the perfect scenario for a bounce back statement.
After sitting at a 4-4 tie with the 5th ranked team in the nation following the first quarter, the Panthers stepped on the gas pedal and never looked back. Led by Jon Broome ’16 and his astounding four goal, four assist effort, the team maintained the lead after Henry Riehl ’18 scored at the 13:34 mark of the second quarter. The Panthers would ultimately stomp their NESCAC rival by a 17-11 margin and in so doing hand Amherst its first loss of the year while taking over second place in the league.
Returning home to play Hamilton on Wednesday, April 1, the team did not resort to complacency and retained their coveted spot near the top of the NESCAC. After going down 6-2 at halftime, the Continentals, in rather typical hard-nosed NESCAC fashion, refused to go away easily and stormed back with three goals in the third quarter while shutting out the Panthers.
Hamilton continued to play very solid defense in the fourth quarter, requiring just as much grit and hustle, two aspects embodied by face-off specialist John Jackson ’18 who won 11 face-offs while scooping up five ground balls on the day. The Panthers also exhibited their skill in the offensive end, led by Riehl and Jack Cleary ’16, who had three and two goal games respectively. The Panthers ultimately came out on top by 11-8, retaining their number seven national ranking and second place in the league.
With a horde of fanatical parents packing the stands of Alumni Stadium on Saturday, April 4, seventh-seeded Middlebury took on the Colby Mules to try to improve upon its winning streak. Though Colby sits near the bottom of the NESCAC, no one considers the Mules a pushover.
Both teams got out to a hot start, pouring in five goals apiece in the opening quarter. The trend continued into the second quarter as Middlebury, led by Tim Giarrusso ’16 who earned his third point on the day after an assist to Joel Blockowicz ’15 at the 11:16 mark, dumped in three more to Colby’s lone goal to take an 8-7 lead heading into halftime. The Mules responded right away to open the second half with three straight goals, building its largest lead at 10-8 with 10:34 remaining.
The Panthers responded with three of their own: one notched by David Murray ’15 and another by Joey Zelkowitz ’17. Broome added his second of the day to round out the scoring and produce the seventh lead change of the game. Colby’s Kevin Seiler tied the contest up at 11-11 late in third, however, the Panthers took over yet again to end the quarter as Broome earned his hat trick at with under a minute remaining followed by Zelkowitz who netted his second goal of the game with a mere 18 seconds remaining. After a relatively slowly fourth quarter marked by a goal for each side, the Panthers won by a score of 14-11.
Following the victory Middlebury improved to 9-2 on the season and 6-1 in NESCAC play. The Panthers return to action at home on Wednesday, April 8th when they attempt to win their fourth in a row against the 4-6 Springfield College Pride in a non-conference matchup.
