5/16/05 - Middlebury is in its eighth consecutive and ninth overall appearance in the NCAA Division III Men’s Lacrosse Tournament. The Panthers will host Wesleyan on Wednesday, May 18th at 4:00 p.m. on Youngman Field at Alumni Stadium. The winner of the game will take on the winner of the Nazareth/Cortland quarterfinal contest. If Middlebury wins, they would host the semifinal contest on Saturday or Sunday.
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 22-5 (.815), 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 (16-18-34), Mark Foster (20-9-29), Travis Meyer (13-16-29) and Dave Leach (16-9-25), while Peter Mellen wins 66% of his face-offs. In goal, Alex Palmisano has a 7.56 goals against average.
Wesleyan is making its first NCAA appearance after earning one of two at-large bids to the tournament. The Cardinals advanced to the quarterfinals with a come-from-behind victory at Springfield on Saturday. Trailing 7-2 in the third quarter, Wesleyan scored eight unanswered goals to come away with a 10-7 win.
Leading the team in scoring this season are Glenn Adams (19-28-47), Chris Knacke (31-14-45), Chris Meade (32-9-41), Mike Hines (26-10-36) and Jordan Funt (17-18-35). In goal, Charlie Congleton has a 7.34 GAA.
This will be the 28th all-time meeting between Middlebury and Wesleyan, with the Panthers holding a 16-10-1 advantage. Middlebury earned a 9-5 win over the Cardinals in the ’05 NESCAC Championship, while picking up a 12-7 win in the ’04 title game. The Panthers have won the last 12 meetings.