New talent shines in men's lacrosse opener

The Panthers enter this season looking to break a couple of current streaks: five years without a championship game appearance, six years without beating any of the perennial powerhouses — Gettysburg, Salisbury or Cortland State, ranked 1, 3, and 4 respectively — and eight years without a championship trophy.

One streak they were looking to keep alive was going 12-0 against Bates since 2000.

This past Saturday, the men did just that, as they beat the host Bobcats 9-6 in the regular season opener. While the rest of campus was celebrating (an early) St. Patrick’s Day, the Panthers were celebrating a good start to what should be a great season.

From the start, it was clear just how much this game and this season mean to the Panthers, and especially to the final recruiting class of the Erin Quinn era. Just 42 seconds into the game, captain Pete Smith ’10, the second-leading scorer and leading assist man from a season ago, found a streaking Matt Virtue ’10. A short-stick defensive and wing faceoff specialist, Virtue matched half his goal total from a season ago, with two goals on the game.

Eight seconds later, a faceoff win by Brian Foster ’13 led to a Jack Balaban ’11 goal. While face-offs have not been the team’s greatest strength since losing Peter Mellen ’07, Foster proved his worth on Saturday by winning 77 percent of his face-offs.

While goals and assists are sure to get you recognized as an individual, it is the little things like face-offs and groundballs that are often the difference between wins and losses. While the Bobcats won the groundball battle 41-35, the Panthers dominated at the cross 15-4, courtesy of Foster and Peter Jennings ’12.

The Bobcats tied it up in the first quarter, thanks to two unassisted goals from David Barrett.

Two minutes into the second quarter, David Hild ’11 found the net for the first time this season. After a strong sophomore campaign in which he netted 26 goals and 33 points, Hild worked hard during his offseason and has been rewarded. Now playing midfield, Hild has proven capable of creating opportunities for himself and others and in the process has become a focal point of the offense.

After Barrett completed his hat trick and tied the game, the Panthers showed a glimpse of the type of well-rounded lacrosse that has kept Middlebury in the top tier of Division III programs in recent memory. Andrew Conner ’11, Alex Englert ’12, Smith and Hild tallied second quarter goals to push the lead to 7-3 at the half.

Four minutes into the second half, Conner scored his second of the day on Middlebury’s only man-up opportunity of the second half.

While it is too early to say anything for sure, this new man-up unit — having lost Matt Ferrer ’09, Skyler Hopkins ’09 and Mike Stone ’09 — looks sharp enough to match the 44 percent conversion rate of a year ago.

During the 5-0 run in the second and third quarters, the Panthers stopped all four Bates man-advantages as well. The continued success of the man-up and man-down units will be critical if Middlebury hopes to achieve its lofty goals.

After stopping eight third-quarter shots, Ryan Deane ’11 gave up three fourth-quarter goals as Bates made a comeback. The Panthers weathered the late storm en route to their 9-6 victory.

While still very early, the Panthers can definitely take away some positives from this win: they have a faceoff man for the future in Foster, the heir to Pete Britt’s ’09 cage emerged as Deane made 20 stops and the man-up and man-down units look strong.
If the Panthers can keep focused and put together 60-minute performances, this win streak over Bates may be one of the few that lasts this season.