Middlebury Wins Inaugural Men's Lacrosse Championship

Courtesy Middlebury Athletic Communications

MIDDLEBURY, Vt. - Middlebury held Bowdoin scoreless for the first 18:21 of the game on its way to an 11-5 win over Bowdoin in the NESCAC Championship. The Panthers will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament when pairing are announced on Sunday night. It is expected that Middlebury will host a first-round game on Wednesday, May 9th.

It took 11:41 for someone to break into the scoring column when Middlebury's Matt Dunn worked his way to the goal before scoring with 3:19 left in the first quarter. Dunn doubled the lead late in the period before tremendous moves by Alex Ellis got Bowdoin on the board with 11:39 left in the second quarter. Dunn struck again with a goal as he was falling to the ground to give the Panthers a 3-1 lead with 10:43 left in the half. The teams exchanged goals before Dunn added his third and fourth goals of the game to give Middlebury a 6-2 hafltime lead. In the second half, Bowdoin cut the lead to 6-3 before a pair of Jamie Haire goals gave the Panthers an 8-3 lead. Dunn tallied his fifth of the game to make it a 9-3 game after three quarters. The fourth quarter saw Alex Ellis score a pair to make it a 9-5 game before the Panthers scored the last two for the 11-5 win.

Dunn led the Panthers with five goals, while Haire added three. Ellis led Bowdoin with three tallies.

2001 NESCAC MEN'S LACROSSE CHAMPIONSHIP
First Round - Tuesday, May 1 at higher seeds
at No. 2 Wesleyan 16, No. 7 Amherst 11
at No. 3 Bowdoin 11, No. 6 Tufts 6
at No. 4 Connecticut College 11, No. 5 Trinity 7

Semifinals - Saturday, May 5 at Middlebury
No. 3 Bowdoin 12, vs. No. 2 Wesleyan 9
at No. 1 Middlebury 15, No. 4 Connecticut College 6

Final - Sunday, May 6 at Middlebury
at No. 1 Middlebury 11, No. 3 Bowdoin 5