MIDDLEBURY — The Middlebury College men’s lacrosse team split a pair of tight home games in recent action. The Panthers are 2-1 heading into a Saturday road game at Wesleyan (2-1), ranked No. 9 in NCAA Division III.
On this past Saturday visiting Connecticut (3-0, 2-0 NESCAC) edged the Panthers, 8-6. The Camels secured the win by scoring the game’s final three goals.
Middlebury took a 3-1 first-period lead on strikes by Henry Riehl, Parker Lawlor and Michael McCormack, and still led by 4-2 on another Riehl strike until late in the second, when the Camels scored twice in the final two four minutes to make it 4-4 at the half.
The teams exchanged man-up goals in the third until A.J. Kucinski made it 6-5 at 4:55. But the Camels got goals from A.J. Vasquez and Maxx Trotsky to take a 7-6 lead after three periods.
Camel PJ Kelleher made it 8-6 with 10:34 remaining in the fourth. Middlebury fired four shots at the cage in the closing minutes, but could not find the back of the net again.
Panther goalie Charles Midgley finished with 12 saves, and Camel goalie Jameson Hill stopped 14 shots. Jordan Foster scored three times for the Camels.
On Monday, the Panthers held off a late charge from visiting No. 11 St. Lawrence to prevail, 12-11. The Panthers led, 12-3, with 4:53 to go in the third before the Saints scored eight unanswered goals.
Lawlor gave Middlebury the lead in the first minute, and goals by Frank Cosolito, John Jackson and Riehl made it 4-0 after one period. The Panthers added the first two goals of the second quarter before the Saints got on the board. Twenty seconds before the half Kucinski converted a feed from Danny Jacobs to make it 7-1 at the break.
In the first 2:10 of the third period the Panthers extended their lead to 9-1 with goals from Michael McCormack and Will Brossman. The Saints responded with markers from Conor Caffrey and Jordan Dow.
McCormack scored twice to make it 11-3, once with the Panthers a man up, and Panther Laurence Jackson later caused a turnover and set up defender Eric Rogers for a goal to make it 12-3 with 4:53 remaining in the third quarter. Dow then began the Saint rally with a man-up strike to make it 12-4 entering the fourth.
In the fourth, Mike Donnelly scored a man-up goal, and Caffrey scored and then set up Steven Peterson to make it 12-7. A Cal Hynson man-up made it a four-goal game. Dow converted after a Panther turnover, and Mike Donnelly brought the Saints within 12-10 at 3:17 mark.
Dow made it a one-goal game with 1:24 remaining, but John Jackson won the ensuing faceoff, and the Panthers ran out the clock to nail down the victory.
McCormack’s three goals led the Panthers, while Jacobs netted one and had an assist. John Jackson won 10-14 face-offs in the game with six ground balls, while Jake Madnick won eight of 10 and picked up seven rollers. Midgley made 16 saves for Middlebury, while two St. Lawrence goalies combined for eight saves.