MIDDLEBURY — The Middlebury College men’s lacrosse team dropped two tight home games in the past few days, losing a close game to top-ranked Tufts on Saturday and an overtime contest to undefeated non-league foe St. Lawrence on Tuesday.
Middlebury (2-2, 1-1 NESCAC) will visit league foe Wesleyan on Saturday.
On this past Saturday, the Panthers lost to Tufts, 12-10, despite outshooting the defending NCAA champions, 59-30. They rallied from a four-goal deficit to tie the game at 10-10, but the Jumbos scored twice in the fourth quarter to take the lead and then held on.
The Jumbos took a 4-1 lead in the opening period, with only Tim Giarrusso scoring for the Panthers. Middlebury cut it to 4-2 entering the second when Jack Cleary scored, from Jon Broome. A Giarrusso goal early in the second made it 4-3, and then Tufts stretched its lead to 8-4 at 5:04, with only Sean Carroll scoring for Middlebury, with a setup from Broome. Henry Riehl converted another Broome feed at 4:33, and it was 8-5 at the half.
In the third, the Panthers pulled to within 8-7 on goals from Kyle Soroka at 10:51 and Jack Gould at 9:29, but Connor Bilby gave Tufts a two-goal edge. Middlebury’s Parker Lawlor tallied with eight seconds left in the third, sending the Panthers into the final quarter down one, 9-8.
Jumbo Ben Andreycak scored with 12:13 remaining to make it 10-8, but a man-up goal from Gould and an unassisted tally from Lawlor made it 10-10 at 9:05.
But 20 seconds later, Jumbo Jake Gillespie dodged in from the right side for the go-ahead goal, and Andreycak tacked another on at 7:38.
The Panthers fired four unsuccessful shots over the next few minutes before Tufts took possession in the final minute and ran out the clock.
Gould, Lawlor and Giarrusso led Middlebury with two goals apiece, while Soroka added a goal and an assist. Broome paced the Panthers with three helpers. John Jackson won 15 of 25 faceoffs, while Lawlor, Carroll and Joey Zelkowitz each picked up four rollers. Will Ernst made nine saves in the Panther goal.
Andreycak scored four times for the Jumbos, and Gillespie added three. Tufts goalie Alex Salazar made 18 saves.
On Tuesday, the Panthers also held an edge in shots at goal, 45-34 over visiting St. Lawrence, but the 4-0 Saints defeated them in double overtime, 14-13. St. Lawrence’s Jordan Dow scored the game-winning goal with 14.1 seconds left in the second overtime.
St. Lawrence bolted to an early 6-2 lead, but Broome scored with an assist from Cleary with a half-second left in the first-period to make it 6-3.
The Panthers couldn’t cut into the Saints’ lead in the second quarter, and it was 9-6 at the half. Two goals by Riehl in the third period helped the Panthers make it 10-8 entering the fourth quarter.
Middlebury then scored four straight goals to open the fourth, getting tallies from Gould and Carroll to tie the game, and then man-up goals from Gould and Soroka to take the lead. Gould and Soroka set up each other’s goals, and Soroka’s came with 10:47 to play.
The Saints pulled back to even at 12-12 with goals from Dow at 8:38 and Jon Fairbanks at 3:40. Middlebury took the lead on a shot from the right side by Gould with 2:11 remaining, but Dow equalized with six seconds left to force overtime.
Middlebury had the best scoring chance in the first four-minute extra session, when Carroll shot just high from 10 yards. Ernst denied Jeremy Vautour with about a minute left in the second overtime with a save off his mask. After a Middlebury possession that yielded a pair of shots on a man-up chance, Dow ended the game by redirecting a pass from Alec Dietsch.
Broome and Gould finished with three goals and an assist apiece, and Soroka had a goal and three assists. Jackson won 21 of 30 faceoffs with a game-high 10 ground balls.
Dow scored five goals, while Vautour added three and an assist. Ernst and Saint goalie Ryan Fisher each made 10 saves.