Hartford, Conn. – Sophomore attackman Skyler Hopkins (Easton, Md.) totaled five goals and one assist to lead the visiting Middlebury College Panthers a 16-4 victory over the Trinity College Bantams in the opening round of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Men's Lacrosse Championship Tournament this afternoon at Jessee/Miller Field. Trinity drops to 9-6 with its second loss in as many days, while the Panthers improve to 8-6 and snap a three-game losing skid. Middlebury avenges an 11-10 loss to the Bantams in overtime two weeks ago and advances to the NESCAC Semifinals next Saturday at top-seeded Tufts University.

Trinity junior attackman Kris Tedeschi (Norwell, Mass.) opened the scoring with an unassisted goal at the 11:04 mark of the first quarter, but the Panthers erupted for eight straight goals over the next 30 minutes of the game en route to the one-sided victory. Hopkins scored his first goal with 1:40 left in the first quarter and twice more in the second frame to lead the Middlebury spurt.

Tedeschi finished with one goal and one assist for Trinity, while sophomore goalie Alex Palma (Chappaqua, N.Y.) made 26 saves. Panther senior tri-captain attackman Nick Bastis (Old Greenwich, Conn.) notched two goals and two assists, while junior middie Rory Sanborn (Glyndon, Md.) had two goals and one assist, and senior tri-captain Alex Palmisano (Southport, Conn.) made 19 saves in goal.

Score by Period       1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Middlebury..........  2  5  4  5 - 16
Trinity (Conn.).....  1  0  1  2 -  4
 
Attendance: 250
 
Middlebury SCORING:
GOALS: Skyler Hopkins 5; Nick Bastis 2; Rory Sanborn 2; Mickey Gilchrist 2;
       Tom Petty 1; Pete Smith 1; Mike Stone 1; Dave Campbell 1; Jeff Begin 1.
ASSISTS: Nick Bastis 2; Tom Petty 2; Pete Smith 2; Matt Ferrer 1; Frank Granara 1;
         Zach Harwood 1; Skyler Hopkins 1; Rory Sanborn 1; Will Simpson 1.
 
Trinity (Conn.) SCORING:
GOALS: Kris Tedeschi 1; Chris Walsh 1; Curtis Kahn 1; Jeremy Ulan 1.
ASSISTS: Rob Mountain 1; Kris Tedeschi 1.
 
SHOTS BY PERIOD       1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Middlebury..........  8 14  9 12 - 43
Trinity (Conn.).....  6  3  5  9 - 23
 
GROUND BALLS BY PRD   1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Middlebury..........  7  8  9  9 - 33
Trinity (Conn.).....  4 12  3  6 - 25
 
FACE-OFFS BY PRD       1     2     3     4     Total
----------------------------------------------------
Middlebury..........  2-4   4-6   2-3   5-6  - 13-19
Trinity (Conn.).....  2-4   2-6   1-3   1-6  -  6-19
 
CLEARS BY PERIOD       1     2     3     4     Total
----------------------------------------------------
Middlebury..........  2-2   4-4   6-6   4-4  - 16-16
Trinity (Conn.).....  5-8   4-8   5-7   4-4  - 18-27
 
EXTRA-MAN OPPS         1     2     3     4     Total
----------------------------------------------------
Middlebury..........  0-1   0-1   0-1   0-1  -  0-4
Trinity (Conn.).....  0-0   0-0   0-0   0-1  -  0-1
 
SAVES BY PERIOD       1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Middlebury..........  5  3  4  7 - 19
Trinity (Conn.).....  9  8  5  4 - 26
 
PENALTIES - Middlebury 0/0:00; Trinity (Conn.) 4/3:00.

2007-04-29