The men's lacrosse team will make its seventh consecutive appearance in the NESCAC Championship game after an 8-7 win at Tufts in the semifinals. The Panthers will take on Wesleyan, an 8-0 winner over Williams, at noon on Sunday for the conference title.

Middlebury came out strong in the first quarter, scoring the game's first three goals. Tufts answered with a four-goal run that gave them a 4-3 lead with a man-up goal at the 1:05 mark of the second quarter.

Mike Stone scored with just six seconds left in the half to make it a 4-4 game at the intermission.

The Panthers scored the first three goals of the third quarter to take a 7-4 lead with 3:15 remaining in the quarter. Tufts netted a late third period goal to cut the lead to 7-5 after three.

Middlebury gained some breathing room on a goal from Jim Cabrera at the 9:47 mark of the fourth quarter. A man-up goal at 4:52 and a goal from Chase Bibby with just 27 seconds left made it an 8-7 contest.

Tufts had possession of the ball late in the game, but the Panthers were able to hold on and come away with the win.

Mike Stone had a pair of goals on the afternoon, while six other players scored. Nick Bastis had a goal and two assists in the win. Alex Palmisano made 13 saves in goal, while Matt Harrigan made 15 stops for the Jumbos.

The win avenges a 7-6 overtime loss at Tufts just one week ago.