The 20th-ranked Middlebury men's lacrosse team suffered a 20-11 loss on the road to 12th-ranked Amherst on Pratt Field at Lehrman Stadium. The Panthers (3-6, 1-4) return to action on Wednesday when they host Hamilton at 5:00 p.m., while the Purple and White (7-2, 3-1) hosts #14 Wesleyan on the same day.

After Middlebury struck first on Henry Riehl's goal at the 12:56 mark with an assist from Jake Schneider, Amherst answered with six-consecutive goals to give the Purple & White a 6-1 advantage less than halfway through the first quarter. Brett Inglesby scored on a feed from Max Keeley to get the run started, before Jack Norton fired in the first of his string of tallies on a feed from Matt Killian. Dylan Finazzo won back-to-back faceoffs and aided Trenton Shore in finding the back of the net as the duo struck twice to give the hosts a 4-1 lead. Brogan Mahon scored with help from Jackson Herrick before Norton scored his second marker at the 8:57 mark to make it 6-1. Jack Gould broke the rally for the Panthers with an unassisted goal at the 6:12 mark, but Ford and Norton closed out the quarter with back-to-back scoring strikes to make it 8-2 after 15 minutes of play. 

In the second quarter, Middlebury quickly closed the gap with consecutive unassisted scores by Riehl, and one from John Simms with 9:20 to play in the first half, cutting the Panthers' deficit to 8-5. The Purple & White extended their lead back to five as Norton scored with help from Ford, before Jimmy McAfee found the back of the net with an unassisted goal to set the halftime score at 10-5. 

Amherst pushed its lead to 12-5 early in the third quarter when Killian scored on a pass from Colin Minicus, before Jamie Smith went coast-to-coast and fired in an impressive shot to give the hosts a seven-goal cushion. A.J. Kucinski answered for Middlebury at the 8:53 mark and then assisted a Schneider goal 21 seconds later, making it 12-7. Amherst responded with two more strikes when Norton and Minicus found the nylon with Shore aiding Minicus score, making it 14-7 with 4:23 to play in the stanza. The Panthers scored the final goal in the quarter as Riehl collected his fourth tally of the contest, as Amherst led 14-8.

Amherst pulled away early in the fourth frame scoring six straight in a span of 6:15. Minicus, Killian, and Herrick each scored a goal, while Norton provided two markers, including one on the extra-man opportunity, making the score 20-8. Middlebury closed out the contest with three goals as Parker Lawlor scored once and Riehl netted his fifth and sixth of the contest, making it a 20-11 final.

Finazzo was stellar at the faceoff X once again, collecting 16 ground balls and going 25-32 in the draw, while Sam Chen, Killian, Shore, McAfee, and Ford picked up four ground balls each. Smith and Chen each caused a pair of Middlebury turnovers, while Cody Tranbarger preserved the win making 18 saves.

Will Ernst made 12 stops in goal for Middlebury, while also leading the team in ground balls with seven. Riehl added four scoops, while Joey Zelkowitz and Matthew O'Neal picked up three ground balls each.