Williams Knocks Off Middlebury Men's Lacrosse Team

Sean Carroll scored three goals in the game. Recap, photo courtesy of Middlebury College.

Williams scored seven of the game's final eight goals en route to a 13-9 win over ninth-ranked Middlebury (10-5, 7-3) in the regular-season finale for both teams. The Panthers will host an NESCAC Quarterfinal game on Saturday, while the Ephs (9-6, 5-5) will play on the road.

With the game tied at 2-2 in the second quarter, the Panthers scored four of the next five goals, taking a 6-3 lead into the intermission. Cedric Rhodes got things going at the 10:45 mark on a low shot after a feed from Jon Broome. Jack Lauroesch responded for the Ephs after a great feed from Tanner MacIvor. Sean Carroll put Middlebury on top 3-2, before Tim Giarrusso scored twice, including a goal with 3.7 seconds left in the half to give his team the 6-3 lead.

Williams was a different team in the second half, outscoring the Panthers 10-3. The Ephs netted the
first two of the third quarter to make it a one-goal game before Carroll scored after a shot from Giarrusso had been saved to make it a 7-5 game.

Thomas Fowler brought Williams within one with a quick-stick goal on the doorstep after a dish from Michael Fahey. The lead extended to a pair once again when Wes Quinzani scored in transition on a play that started with Panther keeper Will Ernst and moved up to Dylan Fowler.

The Middlebury offense then went ice cold, going scoreless for a span of 12:46 as the Ephs tallied five goals to take an 11-8 lead.

Fahey opened the run 20 seconds into the fourth quarter, while MacIvor followed 59 seconds later with a shot to the top right corner of the net to tie the game at 8-8.

Just 35 seconds later, Lauroesch scored with a bounce shot to give Williams its first lead since 1-0. McIvor and Lauroesch both struck again, giving their team an 11-8 advantage with 5:10 remaining.
Middlebury battled back when Giarrusso made it a two-goal game with 3:08 on the clock. The Panthers won the ensuing faceoff, but turned the ball over to Williams in their bid to make it a one-goal game. The Ephs took advantage when MacIvor scored with 1:58 remaining to put his team back on top by three, 12-9. Fahey added an empty-net tally with 38 seconds remaining to make it a 13-9 final.

Giarrusso and Carroll each scored three times for Middlebury, while Broome extended his point streak to 14 games with an assist. John Jackson won 16-24 faceoffs and picked up 13 ground balls on the afternoon, while Ernst finished with a dozen saves.

MacIvor earned a game-high four goals in the win, with three apiece coming from Fahey and Lauroesch. Jake Schuckman won 7-18 faceoffs, Riley Hoffman had six ground balls, while Bryson Gilbert-Bono caused three turnovers.

Middlebury won the ground ball battle 36-23 and held a 16-8 edge in faceoffs, but turned the ball over 16 times with 13 miscues from Williams.