5/12/05 - Middlebury will make its eighth consecutive and ninth overall appearance in the NCAA Division III Men’s Lacrosse Tournament this Saturday. The Panthers, will take on Endicott in a first-round match-up at 2:00 p.m. on Youngman Field at Alumni Stadium. The game is one of eight first round contests taking place around the country. The winner will take on the winner of the Springfield/Wesleyan game in an NCAA Quarterfinal match-up on Wednesday, May 18th.
Middlebury advanced to the NCAA title game from ’99-03, winning three straight NCAA crowns in ’00, ’01 and ’02. The Panthers lost their first title game in ’99, before falling in the ’04 semifinals to Nazareth..
This season, the Panthers earned the right to play in the tournament with a 9-5 win over Wesleyan in the NESCAC Championship game. Middlebury has an overall tournament record of 21-5 (.808), boasting the highest winning percentage in tournament history of any team still competing in Division III.
Leading Middlebury’s scoring attack this season have been Jim Cabrera (33-13-46), Henry Sheehan (16-13-29), Travis Meyer (13-15-28), Mark Foster (17-9-26) and Dave Leach (14-9-23), while Peter Mellen wins 64% of his face-offs. In goal, Alex Palmisano has a 7.24 goals against average.
Endicott makes its third appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Gulls advanced to the second round after an 11-10 win at Keene State on Wednesday. Endicott won the Commonwealth Coast Conference Championship to earn their bid to this year’s tourney. Kevin Lally (20-72-92) and Burt Fahy (65-24-89) lead the team in scoring, while Ryan Walsh has a 6.96 GAA in net.
These two teams have met only once, with Middlebury earning a 29-3 win in the first-round of the 2001 NCAA Tournament.