The ninth-ranked Middlebury men’s lacrosse team picked up its seventh NESCAC win with a victory against Trinity at home on Saturday, April 18. With the bounce-back victory, the Panthers moved to 11-3 overall and 7-2 in the league remaining tied for the second spot with sixth-ranked Tufts and trailing only the 8-1 Lord Jeffs. Trinity fell to 2-7 in the league following the loss.
After a disappointing defeat at the hands of the Bates Bobcats a week prior, the squad knew this game was a big one. With only two regular season games left, both of which are in the league, the Panthers knew this was a virtual must-win if they wanted to stay on pace with Tufts and Amherst near the top of the NESCAC. As a result of that pesky parity which seems to exist in the NESCAC year-in and year-out, however, this was by no means an easy win despite Trinity’s poor record on the year. After a 1-1 start to the game, Middlebury was given a gift by the Bantams in the form of a rare three extra-man possession at 8:02 of the first quarter. Jon Broome ’16, a man Middlebury has come to rely on for big goals in big moments, capitalized off a Joel Blockowicz ’15 assist. Though James O’Connell put in Trinity’s second goal little more than a minute little later, Chase Clymer ’15 put Midd up to end the half. The second half was an all-Middlebury affair as the Panthers dumped in three, including two from Jack Rautiola ’16 and two assists from Henry Riehl ’18. In the same stanza, the squad shut out the visiting Bantams thus providing a 6-2 half-time lead.
Though that complete defensive dominance subsided in the third quarter and Trinity managed to score two, the Panthers offense stayed right on par and matched the effort thus maintaining the four goal lead. In similar fashion to the early going, O’Connell scored to start the fourth off a Ben Preston assist at the 11:49 mark which seemed to spark a fire in the Middlebury men. They countered with a three-goal run, the end of which saw Broome’s second on the day at 7:36. Trinity refused to let the six-goal deficit discourage them, however, and answered with a two-goal run of their own in a matter of two minutes. The final six minutes were perhaps the most exciting of the game as each side dumped in four. Rautiola pumped in his third on the day to earn the hat trick while Trinity’s Matthew Hauck had two in the closing minutes to try to keep it close. His efforts would ultimately turn out to be fruitless as the game ended the same way the half had started - with Middlebury up four.
The Panthers will play their final regular season game of the year as they travel to Williams on Wednesday, April 22 to face the faltering 8-5 Ephs. As the standings sit right now, the squad holds the third-seed in the NESCAC tournament, which will begin Saturday, April 25.
