Courtesy Tufts Sports Information

Box Score

MEDFORD, Mass. - Middlebury won its seventh consecutive NESCAC Men's Lacrosse title Sunday afternoon with an 11-6 victory against Wesleyan in the final game of the 2007 NESCAC Men's Lacrosse Championship at Tufts University s Bello Field.

The Panthers (10-6), who earn the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament, have not lost a game in the NESCAC tournament during the seven-year history of the event. Sophomore Skyler Hopkins (Easton, Md.) scored five goals today as the Panthers improved to 15-0 overall in the NESCAC championship games since 2001. Wesleyan (16-2), which will await a possible at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament, got two goals from junior Grayson Connors (Princeton Junction, N.J.).

Middlebury took a different route to the title this year. They entered the tournament as the sixth-seed after a 4-5 conference record during the regular season. They had been the tournament s #1 seed in the previous six seasons. The 2007 Panthers defeated Trinity 16-4 in the first round, #7 Tufts 8-7 in the semi-finals and #4 Wesleyan today for the championship.

Middlebury jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the first period, including the first of two goals by senior tri-captain Nick Bastis (Old Greenwich, Conn.). Wesleyan tied the game at 3-3 with two quick goals in the middle of the second period, by Connors at 8:28 and by Jeff Strittmatter (Miller Place, N.Y.) 13 seconds later. When Connors scored a man-up goal with two minutes to play in the half, the Cardinals took their first lead of the game at 4-3. However, Hopkins scored twice for Middlebury in the final 31 seconds, including a goal with just two seconds remaining after a costly Wesleyan turnover, and they led 5-4.

Into the third quarter, the Panthers added two goals to their lead. They extended their run to three goals at 7:45 of the fourth quarter for an 8-4 advantage. Freshman Pete Smith (Wilton, Conn.) had two assists during the run. Wesleyan s Kwasi Ansu (Bethesda, Md.) got one for Wesleyan at 5:54, but the Panthers scored the next two and had the game well under control at 10-5 with 3:19 on the clock.

The Panthers flung 52 shots towards Cardinals keeper Charlie Congleton (Groton, Mass.), who stopped 14. Senior tri-captain Alex Palmisano (Southport, Conn.) also finished with 14 stops in the Middlebury cage, facing 31 Wesleyan shots. Middlebury also won the ground balls battle 40-29, won 13 of the 21 face offs and scored two man-up goals.

Smith finished with three assists overall, while sophomore Mike Stone (Boston, Mass.) joined Bastis with two goals for Middlebury. Freshman Jon Killeen (Derry, N.H.) and senior quad-captain Mike Hines (Newburyport, Mass.) each added a goal and an assist for Wesleyan.

2007 NESCAC MEN'S LACROSSE CHAMPIONSHIP
First Round - Sunday, April 29 at Higher Seeds
at No. 2 Wesleyan 7, No. 7 Bowdoin 3
No. 6 Middlebury 16, at No. 3 Trinity 4
No. 5 Williams 9, at No. 4 Amherst 5

Semifinals - Saturday, May 5 at Tufts
No. 6 Middlebury 8, at No. 1 Tufts 7
vs. No. 2 Wesleyan 8, No. 5 Williams 0

Championship - Sunday, May 6 at Tufts
No. 6 Middlebury 11, vs. No. 2 Wesleyan 6