The #19 Middlebury men's lacrosse team dropped a 24-10 contest to #1 Tufts on Sunday evening in the third round of the NCAA Tournament.
HIGHLIGHTS
- The Jumbos looked to grab the lead with 2:03 expired in the first stanza, as Chase Beyer fired a point-blank bid near the right post. Panther goalie Hayden Kern stuck out his stick and deflected it away.
- The hosts cashed in on a Middlebury turnover at the 3:12 mark. Brooks Hauser faked a pass and found the left panel for a 1-0 edge.
- Mason Theis tried to extend the advantage less than two minutes later on a step-down skipper. Kern tracked the chance and dropped to make the stop.
- The visitors got on the board a minute later. J.D. Farkas raced up the field and flipped a transition pass to Logan White. The senior did the rest, finding the top right corner to knot the contest.
- White gave the Panthers a 2-1 lead with 4:52 left in the opening stanza, muscling through the contact of two Tufts defenders and depositing a low-angle shot into the left panel.
- The Jumbos had the last laugh of the quarter. Jackson Redd found a darting Garrett Kelly for a shot that sailed into the center of the net with 2:34 left.
- Middlebury regained the edge just nine ticks into the second stanza. Noah Filippelli won the opening faceoff and flipped a pass to White. A perfectly-timed dart to the center of the zone by Farkas proved costly, as the senior jumped and ripped a bouncer into the net.
- Tufts regained control with six straight goals over nearly seven minutes to make it 8-3. Hauser capped the run on a sizzling shot from 15 yards out that found the right panel.
- The Panthers stopped the surge with 4:29 left in the second quarter. Brendan Hickey was left unmarked and rifled a crisp feed from Charlie O'Connor into the right side of the net.
- Jack Regnery reupped the Jumbo lead (9-4) with 16 seconds remaining on a low-angle runner that slid into the left panel. Emsing tallied the first marker of the second half with 2:08 played on a shot that sailed over Kern's left shoulder.
- White countered with 11:13 left, spinning to his right and bulldozing a defender before firing a tough-angle bid that snuck inside the right post to make it 10-5.
- Tufts tallied 12 of the next 13 goals to establish a 22-6 lead through 45 minutes. O'Connor briefly interrupted the run at the 8:13 mark on a blistering shot that sailed into the right panel.
- Middlebury outscored the Jumbos 4-2 in the fourth quarter, finalizing the 24-10 score.
NOTES
- With his two caused turnovers, Drew Dummer surpassed Luke Simpson '24 for the most in program history. Dummer concludes his career with 93.
- Ford led the Middlebury attack with five points (3G, 2A). O'Connor and White each had four points apiece.
- Filipelli won 16 of his 31 faceoff attempts, catapulting him past 250 wins in his career.
- Kern made 14 stops in net for his 43rd career game with double-digit saves. The senior caps his time with the navy and white as the all-time leader in career stops (867).
- The teams battled for the 65th time.
Middlebury closes its 2026 campaign with a 9-8 record and a .500 or better mark for the ninth time in the last 10 seasons.
POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE
