No. 5 Middlebury Edges Springfield by One
from press release
The Middlebury men's lacrosse team moved to 2-0 on the season
with it second straight road win. The Panthers earned a slim
mid-week victory over Springfield, 6-5, as they prepare to host
Wesleyan in the team's home-opener on Saturday.
Springfield opened up the scoring as it netted the lone goal of the
opening quarter of play. After a strong ride forced a failed
Middlebury clear within its own defensive third, Kyle Louer picked
up the ball on the restart and found the back of the cage at the
7:50 mark.
However, the Middlebury offense hit its stride in the second
quarter as it scored four unanswered goals to snag a 4-1 advantage.
Andrew Conner netted the Panthers first goal of the game 50 seconds
into the stanza as he bounced home a shot after fighting through a
Springfield check. Neither team would score for over 10 minutes
until Alex Englert converted on an unassisted strike after clearing
the ball nearly 60 yards after a Panther save.
Just 55 seconds later, Jeff Begin let loose a cannon and found the
upper corner of the net to give the visitors a 3-1 lead. Conner
found the back of the cage for his second goal of the quarter with
1:26 remaining as Middlebury opened up a three-goal cushion.
The Pride's scoring drought was finally snapped with nine seconds
left in the half as Shawn Runyon scooped up an errant pass in front
of the net and blasted home Springfield's first goal in nearly 23
minutes.
The Panthers were flagged for an illegal body check as time expired
in the first half, allowing Springfield start the second half on a
man-up advantage. Austin Orsini found Joe Heney 23 seconds into the
stanza for the Pride's third tally of the game.
Orsini then recorded a goal of his own after Cory Schwarzkopf
caused a turnover near midfield. The senior defender then lobbed a
pass over the Panthers defense to a streaking Orsini, who slipped
home the game-tying goal at the 11:57 mark.
Middlebury responded with the game's next two goals to rebulid its
lead to 6-4. Tim Cahill slotted home a goal as he tip-toed along
the crease off a nice pass from Jack Masur with 10:09 remaining and
Peter Smith found Englert trailing in transition with just over
four minutes remaining for what would prove to be the the
game-winning strike.
The fourth quarter was marred by Springfield turnovers as SC
committed five of its 23 errors in the frame. Joe Macchi tallied a
sensational strike with 1:51 on the clock after a terrific
individual effort from 10 yards out to make it a one-goal game.
Mark Eaton won the ensuing face-off and head coach Keith Bugbee
called a timeout to set up his offense. Out of the break, Macchi
got his hands free and let a rocket fly towards the cage, only to
clang off the crossbar with 36 seconds on the clock. After Orsini
grabbed the loose ball, Macchi had another chance to score with 25
seconds left but his shot was broken up and Middlebury ran out the
clock to hang on for the win.
Marc Martinez had a very nice game between the pipes for
Springfield, totaling 17 saves, including 11 in the first half. His
counterpart, Ryan Deane, tallied 11 saves and four ground balls in
the victory.
