MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – The Connecticut College men's lacrosse team fell to Middlebury in its NESCAC opener by a 20-8 score on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Stadium.

Middlebury (2-0, NESCAC 2-0) opened the game with three straight markers before a man-up goal by Gus Mazzocca (West Hartford, Conn.) put the Camels on the board at the 4:07 mark. The Panthers then responded when A.J. Kucinski found Will Brossman and carried a 4-1 lead through 15 minutes of action.

Even though the Camels scored first in the second quarter on another man-up opportunity, the hosts recovered by embarking on a 5-1 run to move ahead by a 9-3 score and seize control. Danny Jacobs scored twice to help give the Panthers a four-goal lead heading into the break.

Middlebury then caught fire in the third quarter by outscoring the Camels, 7-2, in the 15-minute frame. Jack Hoelzer netted two goals, which included an unassisted tally with four seconds left to lift the Panthers ahead by double digits at 16-6 by the end of the third, and the hosts padded their lead by firing in the first two goals of the fourth. The extra insurance provided by Jack Sheehan and Michael McCormack at the beginning of the final frame gave the team one last spark to come away with their second victory of the young season in as many tries.

McCormack led Middlebury with four goals and Tyler Forbes added a hat trick. Kucinski had two goals, two assists, and five ground balls. Defensively, Andrew Ng caused a game-high five turnovers and also finished with five ground balls, while Jake Madnick snagged eight ground balls. Tyler Bass earned the win between the posts with 11 saves in 52 minutes of action. 

Senior Jack Rutter (Madison, N.J.) was credited with a team-leading four goals for Connecticut College (1-1, NESCAC 0-1), which was outshot by a 53-41 margin but had a 16-15 edge in faceoff wins. Junior Toby Almeida (Cumberland, R.I.) won 15 faceoffs and picked up eight ground balls, and senior Colin Smith (Mount Kisco, N.Y.) turned away 13 shots before being relieved in the fourth quarter. Courtney Morgan (South Windsor, Conn.), another senior, led the defensive effort with three caused turnovers and two ground balls.

Connecticut College will next return home to face Hamilton on Saturday, March 14 at 1 p.m.