The #19/fifth-seeded Middlebury men's lacrosse team tallied the first three goals of Saturday's fourth quarter, turning a 7-7 contest into a 10-8 triumph over #10/fourth-seeded Amherst in the NESCAC Quarterfinal round. 
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• The Mammoths struck 5:24 into the contest when Bennett Chow ripped a shot into the upper-left corner of the goal for a 1-0 edge.
• Amherst looked to double its advantage three minutes later, but Middlebury goalie Hayden Kern saved a rising shot from Chow.
• The Panthers knotted the contest with 3:42 on the clock when Russell Thorndike laced a bid into the left panel.
• The hosts nearly took the lead in the final seconds of the stanza, but Kern thwarted a point-blank shot by Alex Vlacich to keep it a 1-1 game.
• Middlebury grabbed a 2-1 advantage with 4:25 expired in the second frame. Finn McCarthy fired an underhanded shot from the right side following a stick-to-stick pass from Patrick Jamin.
• Five minutes later, Alex Giacobbe tied the game again on a left-handed shot that tucked inside the left post.
• The Panthers answered 33 seconds later, retaking the one-goal edge (3-2) when Jamin worked from behind the goal, bouncing a turnaround bid into the lower-left corner.
• James Farinacci muscled his way through a pair of defenders, pushing the Middlebury advantage to 4-2 with 1:29 left before the half.
• The Mammoths tallied the initial three goals of the third quarter. Bob Gross fired his bid inside the right post with 1:10 elapsed, while Chow tallied 2:24 later. Giacobbe completed the run with 8:04 remaining on a wraparound bid for a 5-4 lead.
• John McCarthy put an end to the Amherst run, working through defenders before burying a bid. 
• Billy Curtis gave Middlebury a 6-5 lead when he deked goalie Mitch Likins and found nylon in the lower-right corner.
• Vlacich and Chow tallied sandwiched around a point-blank goal on a turnaround bid by Curtis to knot the game (7-7) headed to the final stanza. 
• After an Amherst failed clear attempt, Thorndike kickstarted the decisive run with 1:53 gone in the fourth, bouncing his shot between the legs of Likins for an 8-7 lead.
• Thorndike completed his hat trick with 7:41 remaining, tucking a shot inside the left post, before Cooper DeMallie roped an underhanded quick-stick chance on the doorstep 2:23 later to make it 10-7.
• The Mammoths moved to within two (10-8) as Vlacich scored with 52 seconds remaining on a left-handed attempt from 10 yards out.
• Amherst won the ensuing faceoff, but the Panthers forced a turnover and ran the clock out to secure the 10-8 triumph.

NOTES

• With his three assists in the win, Jamin surpassed the 100-career assist plateau (101).
• Kern finished with 18 saves in the victory, marking the third time in the last four games he has accumulated 15 or more stops.
• The Panthers and the Mammoths battled for the 74th time, with Middlebury holding a 46-27-1 advantage in the all-time series. The Panthers remain an unblemished 9-0 against Amherst in NESCAC Tournament play. The sides met for the second-straight season in the quarterfinal round.

Middlebury advances to the conference semifinal round and will learn its opponent at the conclusion of Sunday's last quarterfinal contest.