The Middlebury Campus

Issue date: 5/8/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Grace Duggan Despite the defensive effort of James Guay '08 and Charlie Schopp '10 (24), Williams' David Hawley scored two goals and dished out one assist on the afternoon, as the sixth-seeded Ephs upset the Panthers 11-10 in overtime in a NESCAC semifinal game played on Saturday, May 3. [Click to enlarge]

This past Saturday, the Middlebury men's lacrosse team finally lost its stranglehold on the NESCAC conference. After a stellar regular season that positioned the Panthers for a run at an eighth straight NESCAC championship and an NCAA championship, the men found their match.

Visiting Williams, whom Middlebury beat 7-6 earlier in the season, continued its hot-streak as the Ephs upset the top-seeded host 11-10 in overtime.

The Panthers played at a much higher level than in their regular-season meeting with the Ephs, but it was not enough to rally past the surging Williams squad.

Teams seem to have found success against Middlebury when they are able to slow the tempo of the game. The Panthers have a strong core of two-way midfielders who can really push the ball on clears and become hasty on the offensive end if they have not touched the ball for extended periods of time.

Williams was not as overt in its use of this tactic as other teams this season, but they deliberately worked the ball around before making moves toward the cage. The Panther offense showed restraint in the early goings, but as time was winding down, especially in the overtime, the Panthers showed an unwillingness to wait for an opening and instead opted to force the ball.

Though Middlebury never led during the contest, Williams was never able to generate a lead of greater than three goals and the teams traded goals throughout much of the first three quarters.

Jim Cabrera '08 knotted the game up at eight and added an assist on Mike Stone's '09 goal that again tied the game at nine as part of an active fourth quarter. The senior also finished with a game-high nine shots from the midfield.

Continued...

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