A five-goal run over a span of 4:20 in the third quarter lifted #12 Middlebury to a 12-8 NESCAC men's lacrosse road victory over Hamilton on Wednesday at the Campus Road Athletic Complex. Both teams host a conference contest on Saturday as the Panthers (6-4, 4-2) invite #6 Bates to Youngman Field at Alumni Stadium, while the Continentals (3-6, 1-5) face third-ranked Tufts.

Middlebury scored the only three goals of the opening quarter. Kyle Soroka netted the opening goal at 9:21 and Jack Cleary scored just under two minutes later for a 2-0 advantage. Tim Giarrusso completed the first-quarter scoring for the Panthers, finding the back of the net on an assist from Jack Gould with 11 seconds left.

J.D. Brachman got the hosts on the scoreboard with 14:18 left in the opening half, but Gould gave Middlebury a 4-1 edge at the 10-minute mark. The Continentals tied the game with three-straight goals to end the second quarter. Eric Zurmuehle won the ensuing face-off after Gould's goal and needed just six seconds to score his fifth goal of the season. Pat Donahoe pulled Hamilton to within a goal (4-3) with 4:14 left, and assisted on Jack Gaul's game-tying goal with 70 seconds remaining as the contest went into the break knotted at 4-4.

Out of the intermission, the Panthers took control scoring on their first five shots of the third quarter. Sean Carroll and Giarrusso both had two goals during the run, while Jon Broome was responsible for the fifth tally of the spurt that covered the opening 8:01 of the third.

Brachman scored his second goal of the game with 5:06 showing on the clock, but Middlebury pushed the lead to six (11-5) with goals from Jack Rautiola at the 13:42 mark and Giarrusso's fourth of the game and 15th of the season with 11:01 on the clock. Carroll's two tallies give him a team-best 17 goals this spring.

Brachman was a part of the next three goals for the Continentals, pulling the hosts to within three at 11-8. He fed Clay McCollum for his 13th goal of the spring on a nifty behind-the-back shot, and Brachman scored back-to-back tallies 59 seconds apart. Rautiola concluded the scoring with his second of the contest and fifth of the spring at the 5:41 mark for the final 12-8 score.

Giarrusso fueled the attack with four goals for Middlebury. Rautiola (2-1-3), Cleary (1-2-3) and Gould (1-2-3) each produced three-point efforts for the Panthers. John Jackson won 11-22 faceoffs and paced the Panthers with seven ground balls, while Harrison Goodkind scooped up five rollers. Eric Rogers and Jon Hurvitz ended the contest with three caused turnovers apiece. Will Ernst (6-4) earned the win in net for the visitors, making 12 saves in the crease.

Zimmerman led Hamilton with four goals and a helper, while Donohue added a goal and a game-high three assists. Eric Zurmuehle collected 13-23 face-off wins and picked up seven ground balls to pace Hamilton, while Casey Kopp had five ground balls and a game-best four caused turnovers. John Schisler made seven stops in goal for the Continentals.