The 15th-ranked Middlebury men's lacrosse team stayed within striking distance late, but could not find the equalizer in a rain-soaked 8-7 loss to fifth-ranked Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) on Wednesday.

HIGHLIGHTS

• The Panthers took a 1-0 lead with 8:20 remaining in the opening quarter. Patrick Jamin collected the ball from about 35 yards out before shaking his defender and finishing past the stick of Engineer goalie Joseph Perry.
• Middlebury doubled its advantage at the 6:10 mark with an extra player, as Billy Curtis sent a crisp pass to a wide-open James Farinacci to make it 2-0.
• The hosts cut the deficit to one (2-1) less than two minutes later with an extra-player goal from Sean Smith.
• Jamin pushed the Panther lead to 3-1 with 9:31 left in the second, weaving through three defenders and finishing inside the right side.
• Both squads traded goals just 42 seconds apart with Smith and Cooper DeMallie scoring the tallies to make the score 4-2 in favor of Middlebury at the 3:05 mark.
• RPI tied the contest on a pair of markers from Tyler Ruffini with less than two minutes remaining for a 4-4 contest heading into the locker room.
• With 2:07 elapsed in the third, Will Ford shook a defender and buried an attempt into the right panel for a 5-4 edge.
• The Engineers took control after Ford's goal, scoring three-consecutive markers over 3:50 of game action for a 7-5 lead at the 8:52 mark. Swanson had two of the three tallies for RPI.
• Middlebury made it a 7-6 contest on a laser shot from Russell Thorndike with just under three minutes left. 
• RPI regained the two-goal edge (8-6) on Swanson's third of the game 51 seconds later.
• The Panthers opened the final stanza with a goal from DeMaille that found the top left corner to slice the advantage to 8-7.
• Middlebury continued to keep the Engineers off the scoreboard, using two clutch back-to-back saves by Hayden Kern with under 10 minutes to go to stay within a goal.
• With 32 ticks left, the Panthers were awarded an extra player, but RPI stifled the team, not allowing a shot to hold on for the 8-7 triumph.

NOTES

• Curtis led the Panther attack with two goals and a pair of assists. He has tallied two or more points in 17 of the last 24 contests dating back to last season.
• Farinacci scored the first goal of his Panther career.
• Henry Tarr had a team-best two caused turnovers and scooped up four ground balls.
• The programs met for the 27th time.

Middlebury begins its home slate against #8 Bowdoin on Saturday at 12:00 p.m. from Youngman Field at Alumni Stadium.