MIDDLEBURY — The Middlebury College men’s lacrosse team could not hold an early lead on Saturday and fell to visiting Connecticut College, 6-3.
The Panthers (1-2, 0-2 NESCAC) scored the game’s first two goals, but did not find the net again until the fourth quarter. The Camels improved to 2-1, 1-0 in the league. Middlebury was set to visit Springfield for a Wednesday non-league game after the deadline for this edition of the Independent, and will travel to face Wesleyan on Saturday. The Panthers will then host non-league foe St. Lawrence on Tuesday at 4 p.m.
Middlebury jumped on the scoreboard first with a pair of first-quarter goals. Jon Broome notched his fourth goal of the season to open the scoring; it was an unassisted tally at 9:42. With less than five minutes left in the quarter, the Panthers took advantage of their lone man-up opportunity of the afternoon when Stephen Seymour laced a shot from the left slot on a pass from Broome.
The score remained at 2-0, Middlebury, until just over a minute into the second quarter when the Camels tallied their lone goal of the opening half. Derek Bertolini worked his way around the Middlebury net and tossed in a wrap-around shot into the lower left corner.
The Camels took the lead with four unanswered goals in the third quarter. Tyler Hegarty scored an unassisted goal following a rebound off his initial shot at 13:25. At 6:27, Briggs Barton gave the visitors the lead for good when he rifled a shot into the upper right corner from about 10 yards out.
Bertolini had a hand in the final three goals for the Camels. With 5:15 and 1:41 left in the third, Bertolini found Chad Sawyer and Thomas Woessner, respectively, on passes from behind the goal. Connecticut recorded its final goal of the game less than a minute into the fourth quarter, when Bertolini found Hegarty, and he bounced a shot home from seven yards out.
The Panthers broke their scoring drought with 4:23 left when Chris Peterson laced a 12-yard shot from the left side after taking a pass from Broome, but they could come no closer.
Middlebury held slight advantages in shots at goal (31-29) and ground balls (25-23). In goal, Panther Nate Gaudio made 13 saves, while Bobby Bleistein tallied 15 stops for the Camels.