Box Score The 14th-ranked Middlebury men's lacrosse team came up short in Wednesday's defensive battle, falling to Hamilton by an 8-7 score.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Ged Gengras got the scoring started with 1:16 expired, drifting left and sending a left-handed bouncer over the line for an early 1-0 Panther edge.
• At the 8:15 mark, Frank Coyle delivered a feed toward the crease that snuck into the left panel to tie the tilt. Hamilton doubled the lead with less than 90 seconds left in the opener, as Thomas Healy tiptoed around the crease to craft a 2-1 advantage.
• Middlebury restored the deadlock 32 seconds into the second stanza. Cooper DeMallie found Will Ford with a crisp skip pass and Ford capitalized, rustling the top-right corner of the net.
• After a goal was waved off on the other end, Gengras tucked a runner from the left alley under the stick of Continental goalie Jack Williams to push the Panthers ahead 3-2 with 10:54 remaining.
• Jack Gunning denied a clear attempt from the hosts, pickpocketing a Hamilton defender at midfield. DeMallie scooped the ground ball and sent a pass to Gunning, who snuck his shot inside the right post for a 4-2 advantage with 5:15 played.
• Logan White nearly widened the margin to three with 5:36 remaining, dialing up a jumpshot that Williams dropped to a split to turn away. Maddux Little converted a nearly-identical opportunity on the other end with 2:52 to go, tightening the battle to 4-3.
• Carson Kraus leveled the affair at 4-4 on a top-shelf finish with 13:33 expired in the quarter. The attacker registered another early in the third, plucking the top-left corner to nudge the hosts in front by a 5-4 margin at the 12:49 mark.
• Middlebury parried the stint with 3:54 elapsed, knotting the game at five. DeMallie posted up in the right alley and flicked a behind-the-back feed to Gengras for a catch-and-shoot goal on the left panel. DeMallie joined the scoring column four minutes later, going bar-down to build a 6-5 lead with 6:16 to go.
• Little tallied the sixth Continental goal at the 4:32 mark, but White spiked in the seventh Panther marker 2:23 later for a 7-6 edge through 45 minutes.
• With 7:04 showing, Kraus weaved through a crowded zone and found the back of the net to even the bout at 7-7.
• Little one-timed a pass from Jesse Delinsky in for the game-winner, grazing the left panel on the go-ahead goal to take an 8-7 lead with 1:47 left.
• Middlebury's final chance to force overtime came with 4.6 seconds left when a contested shot near the crease from Will Leahy aired just wide.

NOTES

• Gengras paced the Panthers with a career-high three goals.
• DeMallie also tallied three points on one marker and a pair of assists.
• Noah Filippelli finished 13-of-18 at the faceoff dot and won eight ground balls.
• The programs squared off for the 35th time.

Middlebury concludes its two-game road stint on Saturday, traveling to Connecticut to meet #10 Wesleyan at 1:00 p.m.