For Release: March 26, 2007

MEN’S LACROSSE WINS TWO MORE

The Middlebury College men’s lacrosse team won two more games last week, improving to 4-0 on the season. The Panthers began the week with an impressive 9-3 victory over Springfield College on Wednesday at Kohn Field. Panther senior goalie Alex Palmisano (Southport, Conn.) was spectacular, tying a career-best in saves with 18 as the Middlebury defense held the Pride to their lowest scoring output of the season.

In the first quarter, a penalty was called on Springfield’s starting goaltender Kyle Cloutier that set up the Panthers first goal as senior Will Simpson (Chevy Chase, Md.) scored at the 10:53 mark. Cloutier’s back-up Tom Albano allowed the goal. Junior Jim Cabrera (Old Greenwich, Conn.) made it 2-0 later in the first as he drilled a shot under the left arm of Cloutier who was back in net. Springfield answered with 1:45 left in the first when Adam Toutain took it upon himself to get to the cage, fighting off several Panthers in the process, cutting the Middlebury lead to 2-1.

The second quarter saw Cloutier take his second penalty of the game. Albano once again had to face the Panthers with one less defender. Sophomore Matt Ferrer (Darien, Conn.) scored a man-up goal on Albano off a nice feed from Simpson with 12:09 left. Middlebury added another score to make it 4-1 going into halftime as Cabrera set up sophomore Tom Petty’s (Newburyport, Mass.) cutting catch-and-shoot goal.

The Panthers built a 6-1 lead in the third quarter before Springfield’s Joe Heney picked up a ground ball deep in Middlebury territory. Heney would connect from in-close cutting the score to 6-2 with 5:39 left. Petty would tally his second goal of the game with less than two minutes left to extend the margin back to five.

In the final quarter, the Pride cut the lead to 7-3 with a man-up goal by Greg Welch who picked up a ground ball after a save by Palmisano and snuck one past the goalie from point-blank range. Middlebury tacked on two more goals, one by Cabrera and another by Pete Smith on a man-up advantage to give the Panthers a 9-3 victory.

Cabrera led all scorers with three goals and an assist, while Petty collected two, and Smith and Simpson had a goal and assist each for the Panthers. Toutain, Heney and Welch each had a goal for the Pride. Palmisano made 18 stops for Middlebury while Cloutier made 12 saves for Springfield. The Panthers won 12 of 15 face-offs and picked up 47 ground balls to the Pride’s 35.

Middlebury held visiting Bowdoin scoreless for periods of 25:23 and 17:21 en route to a 15-5 victory on Saturday at Kohn Field. The Panthers’ 15 goals was a season-high, while the Polar Bears five goals was a season-low.

The Panthers scored first when senior John Sales (Downington, Pa.) set up Petty’s first goal at the 12:28 mark. Middlebury added another first quarter goal as Cabrera curled in from behind the crease for the 2-0 lead.

The lead grew to 4-0 in the second quarter when Bowdoin finally got on the board as Adam Tracy scored at the 4:37 mark, ending a 25:23 scoring drought. The Panthers tallied two more goals, building a 6-1 advantage going into half-time.

Bowdoin’s Thadd Welch scored just 43 seconds into the third quarter, cutting the lead to 6-2. The Panthers answered that goal when first-year player Bart Witmer (Greenwich, Conn.) scored off a quick feed from sophomore Jamie Wheeler (Wenham, Mass.) at the 8:19 mark. Just over two minutes later, the Polar Bears connected on consecutive goals, just 26 seconds apart, to narrow the margin to 7-4 with 5:53 left in the quarter. Cullen Winkler scored with a low shot, while Mike Giordano tallied a goal off a nice assist from Matt Chadwick. Five seconds later, after the ensuing face-off, senior Peter Mellen (Cherry Hill, N.J.) scooped a ground ball and fed Cabrera to give the Panthers an 8-4 advantage.

The Middlebury offense kept the pressure on as they scored the next six goals, including two by senior Nick Bastis (Old Greenwich, Conn.) and another by Petty to increase their lead to 14-4 with 10:06 left in the fourth quarter. The Polar Bears were in the midst of another scoring drought, this time 17:21 long, when Tracy netted his second goal with just 3:32 left in the game. Just over a minute later, Petty netted his third goal of the game to complete the scoring and sealing the 10-goal victory, 15-5.

Bastis led all scorers with four goals and an assist, while Cabrera and Petty each collected three goals for hat-tricks. Rookie Pete Smith (Wilton, Conn.) chipped-in two assists, while nine other Panthers, including Bastis, added an assist as well. Palmisano played most of the game stopping six shots and allowing four goals in 55:05 of action. Sophomore Bill Zrike (Norfolk, Mass.) replaced Palmisano with 4:55 left in the game, letting in one goal and making one save. Charlie Legg was in net for the Polar Bears for 51:39, giving up 14 goals while making nine saves. Alex Gluck played the final 8:21 for Bowdoin, making one save and allowing one goal.
• Men’s lacrosse record: 4-0
• Up next: 3/28 @ W&L, 3/31 @ Colby

WOMEN’S LACROSSE OPENS SEASON WITH A WIN

The Panther women’s lacrosse team was finally able to open its season as they scored six straight goals to open the second half in an 11-5 victory over Bowdoin. The Polar Bears entered the game ranked fourth nationally, while the Panthers sat in the seventh spot. Middlebury returns to action at #6 Salisbury on Tuesday.

Middlebury never trailed in the contest and used a 4-1 run midway through the opening half to take a 5-3 edge. First-year player Dana Heritage (Cheshire, Conn.) scored her first two collegiate goals in the stanza to key the Panther spurt.

Bowdoin's Bobbi Dennison, who also scored two goals in the first period, was able to find the back of the net with just 19 seconds remaining to make it a 5-4 Middlebury lead at the break.

The Panthers took command early in the second half, as junior Katherine Entwisle (Lower Gwynedd, Pa.) scored two goals in the first seven minutes. Heritage added another goal with 18:48 left to push the Panther lead to 8-4. Junior Mimi Schatz (Baltimore, Md.) and sophomore Taryn Petrelli (Harrison, N.Y.) scored for Middlebury to make it 10-4 before Entwisle closed out the run with a tally with 6:56 left. Meanwhile, the Panther defense held Bowdoin scoreless for the first 27:28 of the period, as Taylor White scored the lone Polar Bear score of the half with just 2:32 to go.

Entwisle ended with four goals for Middlebury, while Heritage scored three goals and two assists. Dennison led the Polar Bears with two goals. Stephanie Collins-Finn stopped 15 shots for Bowdoin as sophomore Blair Bowie (Washington, D.C.) (57 minutes, four goals against) made 10 saves before giving way to junior Whitney Wildrick (Flourtown, Pa.) (three minutes, one goal against) in the closing moments for the Panthers.
• Women’s lacrosse record: 1-0
• Up next: 3/27 @ Salisbury, 3/29 @ Gettysburg, 3/31 vs. Colby – 12:00

SPRING BREAK NOTES

Several Middlebury teams are currently in action during the school’s spring break. The baseball team is in Arizona, softball is playing in Florida, men’s tennis and track & field are in California, while women’s tennis is in South Carolina. A complete wrap-up of all games will be included in next week’s SportsNotes.

MIDDLEBURY COLLEGE SPORTS ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB: www.gomidd.com