MIDDLEBURY — The Middlebury College men’s lacrosse team dropped a pair of recent games and stands at 3-5, 1-3 in NESCAC action, heading into a game at league rival Amherst this Saturday.
On this past Saturday, visiting Bowdoin (4-2, 3-1 NESCAC) tipped Middlebury, 14-13, in double overtime. The Polar Bears’ Daniel Buckman tied the game with 1:10 to go in regulation and netted the unassisted game-winner in the second overtime shortly after the Polar Bears won the faceoff.
Bowdoin took a 12-9 lead with 5:09 to go in the third quarter before Middlebury scored four unanswered goals to go ahead, 13-12, on a Parker Lawlor strike with 2:14 left in regulation. John Simms, Danny Jacobs with the Panthers a man up, and Jack Gould scored to knot the game at 12-12 before Lawlor gave Middlebury the lead.
Bowdoin won the faceoff after Lawlor’s goal, however, to set up Buckman’s tying goal. 
In that game, A.J. Kucinski paced Middlebury with three goals and four assists, Jacobs scored three times, while Simms and Lawlor each scored twice. Henry Riehl finished with four ground balls and two assists. Jack DeFrino paced the team with six ground balls, while Rogers added four. Will Ernst (24 min, eight goals against, six saves), Will Perry (29 minutes, five goals, four saves) and Charles Midgley (13 minutes, 1 goal, two saves) each saw time in goal for Middlebury.
For Bowdoin, Brett Kujala led all scorers with four goals and three assists, and Buckman scored three goals. Sam Carlin won 20 of 29 faceoffs and scooped 14 ground balls. Goalie Peter Mumford made a dozen stops.
On Tuesday, the Panthers’ 10-9 halftime lead over No. 8 RIT (6-2) evaporated as the Tigers dominated the second half to win going away, 28-12, in a game played in Syracuse University’s Carrier Dome.
Middlebury took an early 7-3 lead, sparked by two goals apiece from Riehl, Gould and Kucinski, and Ernst made seven first-half saves as the Panthers retained the lead.
Perry made seven stops and allowed 14 goals after the break, and Midgley did not make a save and surrendered five goals as RIT outshot the Panthers, 60-35, overall.
Riehl led the Panthers with three goals and three assists, Gould scored four times and added an assist, and Kucinski added two goals and an assist. Jackson scooped a team-best eight ground balls and won 19 of 33 faceoffs.
Chad Levick recorded seven goals and three assists to lead RIT. Four goalies combined for 12 saves, including Jon Berg, who came on in relief of the starter and earned the win with 10 stops.