Middlebury scored four goals in the first 4:27 of the fourth quarter to break open a 6-6 game to beat Williams 11-7 at Youngman Field at Alumni Stadium in a mid-week game. The Panthers improve to 9-3 and 7-1 in NESCAC play will finish the regular season with a trip to Bates this Saturday. A Middlebury win or Wesleyan loss to Colby clinches the top spot for the upcoming NESCAC Tournament on May 6th and 7th. A Middlebury loss and a Wesleyan win, would result in the Panthers hosting a first-round game on Sunday, April 30th at 1:00, with Wesleyan hosting the semifinals and finals.

An evenly played first quarter ended with the score knotted at one apiece. Williams would twice build a two-goal advantage in the second quarter and lead at the half, 5-3.

In the second half, Middlebury outscored the Ephs 8-2, eventually regaining the lead with 1:45 left in the third quarter as Henry Sheehan scored the Panthers third man-up goal of the game to give Middlebury a 6-5 lead. Jeff Wilbur tied the game for Williams at six apiece with just 14 seconds left in the quarter.

After Jeff Pello's goal at the 13:49 mark put the Panthers on top 7-6 in the fourth, Nick Bastis scored three consecutive goals in the next 2:01 to build a 10-6 lead. Both teams would exchange goals later in the quarter to finish the scoring.

Bastis led all scorers with four goals while seven other Panthers netted one goal each, including Henry Sheehan, who collected five assists on the day. Chris Merwin led the Ephs with two goals and Dixon Hargrove added a goal and an assist.

SCORE BY PERIOD 1 2 3 4 Tot

-------------------------------------

Williams............ 1 4 1 1 - 7

Middlebury.......... 1 2 3 5 - 11

Williams SCORING:

GOALS: Chris Merwin 2; Dixon Hargrove 1; James Lee 1; Jeff Wilbur 1; John Snipes 1; Patrick Hayes 1.

ASSISTS: Dixon Hargrove 1.

Middlebury SCORING:

GOALS: Nick Bastis 4; Henry Sheehan 1; Travis Meyer 1; Jim Cabrera 1; Aaron Herter 1; Mike Stone 1; Jeff Pello 1; J.P. Coviello 1.

ASSISTS:

Henry Sheehan 5; Travis Meyer 2; Will Simpson 1.

SHOTS - WIL 27; MID 37.

PENALTIES - WIL 6/5:30; MID 2/2:00.

MAN-UP OPPORTUNITIES - WIL 0-2; MID 3-6.

FACEOFFS - WIL 11-22; MID 11-22.

CLEARS - WIL 16-21; MID 16-22.

GOALIES -

WIL: Michael Gerbush (60:00 minutes, 13 saves, 11 GA)

MID: Alex Palmisano (60:00, 8 saves, 7 GA).