Middlebury's Peter Kohn Field was host to a highly charged men's lacrosse game on Wednesday between two nationally ranked league rivals looking for a second consecutive schedule win - as well as some momentum to follow big conference wins over the weekend.
The No. 17 Jumbos , coming off a 12-9 win over Bowdoin on Saturday, got neither, suffering a nasty loss against NESCAC powerhouse and national No. 12 Middlebury, falling to the Panthers in a 12-4 drubbing.
The Jumbos' off-day drops their overall record to 7-3, with a league record of 3-2, while Middlebury, coming off a 9-8 overtime win over Amherst on Saturday, advances to a 4-1 NESCAC clip and a 5-3 overall record.
Tufts, ranked No. 17 in Div. III, anticipated a tough game against Middlebury, who are No. 12 in the country and second place in the conference. The 2005 Panthers team, an eventual NCAA finalist, took a 9-7 game from the Jumbos last year for Middlebury's fifth straight victory over Tufts.
There were no excuses for this loss, however, nor for the seven unanswered Middlebury goals. While Tufts had plenty of opportunities, with 27 shots on the day, the team was unable to find the back of the net.
"I am disappointed in how we played today," coach Mike Daly said. "Our team was outplayed, and I am embarrassed for our program, for Tufts University and for our alumni. We need to put forth a more consistent and confident effort."
The game appeared even early on as Middlebury freshman Mike Stone scored the opening goal at 10:33. The Jumbos responded at the 5:44 mark with a score by senior midfielder Casey D'Annolfo, assisted by senior co-captain Rory Doucette.
With just under three minutes left in the first quarter, Middlebury junior Nick Bastis and sophomore Jim Cabrera both scored to open up a two-goal lead that the Panthers would only increase.
Middlebury owned the second quarter, picking up the momentum and catching the Jumbos on their heels. Two minutes into the quarter, Cabrera's strike gave the Panthers a 4-1 lead and kicked off a six-goal run by Middlebury.
Toward the end of the period, Middlebury scored three goals within two minutes of one another, with Bastis completing his hat trick and seniors Aaron Herter and J.P. Coviello getting on the board. It wasn't until the 1:18 mark that senior midfielder Mike Hughes broke the barrage, scoring the Jumbos' lone goal of the quarter off senior midfielder Mike O'Brien's assist.
Middlebury scored its sixth and final goal of the second quarter only 30 seconds later, as Cabrera completed a hat trick of his own, giving the Panthers' a substantial 9-2 halftime lead.
"There's no excuse to give up that many goals in a row," Doucette said. "We had to attack a lot in the second half to make up. Even though they scored a lot in a row, our mentality is always to go in, get the face off, and make the next play."
Junior Matt Lanuto agreed that his team let the game get away in the second frame.
"They just got good momentum in the second quarter, and we couldn't stop them," Lanuto said. "We came out at 1-1 at one point, and then they got two goals [in the first quarter], and then in the second quarter, they just broke away with it."
Tufts collected itself at halftime, limiting Middlebury's offense to three second-half goals. After Herter's score at the outset of the third, Tufts was able to shut down the Panther attack for 12 minutes, going four for five in defensive clears in front of eight third-quarter saves from freshman goalie Matt Harrigan.
Harrigan has turned heads early in his collegiate career and has the third-best goals against average in the conference (6.96) and the second-best save percentage (.628).
"Harrigan did fine," Lanuto said. "There was nothing he could do; they were taking great shots."
There was a flurry of goals late in the third period. O'Brien scored unassisted with just under five minutes in the quarter, reciprocated by Middlebury senior Jeff Pello at 1:43. Jumbo freshman attack Clem McNally was the last to post a score for Tufts at the one-minute mark for an 11-4 score going into the final set.
With the lone goal in the fourth quarter coming on Stone's second of the afternoon, both teams had trouble finding the net late in the game, failing to capitalize on any of the seven extra-man opportunities or any of their eight shots apiece.
Although the second half was considerably more even, the game was Middlebury's to win.
"They just moved the ball well and found the open shooters and finished," Lanuto said. "Overall [Middlebury] did a great job. It comes from the little things sometimes, not always from the big things."
Given the Jumbos' multiple opportunities to score, these little things, such as a lack of quality shots, proved detrimental to their offense.
"Offensively, I felt we played timid and we got away from what we have done in the past to be successful," Daly said. "We had plenty of opportunities and did not capitalize on them. [Middlebury] did. It was that simple."
The Jumbos will travel to Colby on Saturday in the hopes of improving their record with a good league win. Colby stands at 1-4 in the conference with losses to Middlebury, Bates, Amherst and Williams.
Though Colby rests at the bottom of the NESCAC standings and Tufts has beaten the Mules in each of their past six meetings, every NESCAC game is a battle. With one of the best conferences in Div. III, the team knows that no game is a cakewalk.
"We have to take them seriously," Lanuto said. "If we don't take them seriously, it's not a guaranteed win. So we're going to forget about [Wednesday] and move on to Colby on Saturday."
