Middlebury Wins 2003 Men's Lacrosse Championship

Courtesy Middlebury Athletic Communications

MIDDLEBURY, Vt. - Middlebury used eight different goal scorers on its way to the team's third consecutive NESCAC Championship. The three-time defending NCAA Champions will make their seventh NCAA Tournament appearance when the pairings are announced on Sunday night. Tufts ends its season at 12-5.

Following a scoreless 6:14, Middlebury ran off four straight goals in a 2:42 span to take a 4-0 first quarter lead. Tufts answered with a pair in the final 3:53 of the quarter to make it a 4-2 contest. The lead grew to 6-2 in the second quarter before the Jumbos answered again to make it 6-3. Christopher Davis scored with just 33 seconds left in the first half to make it a 7-3 game at the half.

Devin Clarke opened the second half scoring just 1:00 into the second half for the Jumbos as they cut the lead to three. Davis and Ben Toby scored 10 seconds apart for Middlebury to increase the lead to 9-4. The lead grew to 10-4 before Tufts scored three of the next four goals in the third quarter to cut the margin to 11-7. Bryan Griffin scored two goals during the run for Tufts. Clark, who had scored the final goal of the third quarter, opened the fourth quarter with a goal 1:02 in the session to cut the lead to 11-8. Middlebury answered with a big three goal run to regain a comfortable 14-8 lead with 9:01 remaining. The team's exchanged the final three goals of the game to make it a 15-10 final.

Howe led Middlebury with four goals and two assists on the day, while Davis also scored four. Clark paced Tufts with four goals and three assists, while Griffin added a pair.

2003 NESCAC MEN'S LACROSSE CHAMPIONSHIP
First Round - Sunday, April 27 at Higher Seeds
at No. 2 Tufts 14, No. 7 Bowdoin 13
at No. 3 Wesleyan 8, No. 6 Connecticut College 7 - OT
at No. 4 Amherst 12, No. 5 Williams 9

Semifinals - Saturday, May 3 at Middlebury
at No. 1 Middlebury 14, No. 4 Amherst 8
No. 2 Tufts 8, vs. No. 3 Wesleyan 7

Championship - Sunday, May 4 at at Middlebury
at No. 1 Middlebury 15, No. 2 Tufts 10