Continentals topped by 12th-ranked Middlebury

The Hamilton College men's lacrosse team fought back to tie Middlebury College at the half before the visiting Panthers pulled away in the second half for a 12-8 win Wednesday at Hamilton's Campus Road Athletic Complex. The Panthers, who are ranked 12th nationally, outscored the Continentals 5-1 in the third period.

Hamilton, who fell to 3-6 overall and 1-5 in the NESCAC, scored the last three goals of the second quarter to forge a 4-4 tie at intermission.

The Continental surge started with just under 10 minutes left in the half when Eric Zurmuehle '18 won the faceoff after Middlebury's fourth goal (he won 13 on the day) and needed just six seconds to score his fifth goal of the season. Pat Donahoe '16 scored 5:41 later, then fed Jack Gaul '18 for the tying goal with 70 seconds to go in the period.

The Panthers took control by scoring on their first five shots of the third quarter, opening up a five-goal lead eight minutes in. J.D. Brachman '17 scored his second goal of the game with 5:06 remaining but Middlebury pushed the lead to six with two goals early in the fourth quarter.

Brachman, who finished with five points, pulled the hosts to within 11-8 with two goals and an assist in a span of less than two minutes. He fed Clay McCollum '19, who scored his 13th goal of the spring on a behind-the-back shot, then scored his third and fourth goals of the game 59 seconds apart. Donahoe, who collected four points, assisted on Brachman's last two goals.

Tim Giarrusso led Middlebury with four goals, including three during the Panthers' 7-1 run that opened the second half. Sean Carroll added a pair of goals in that stretch. Jack Cleary (2-1) and Jack Rautiola (1-2) added three points apiece.

Will Ernst made 12 saves to earn the win, stopping all five Hamilton shots in the first period. Eric Rogers and Jon Hurvitz paced the Middlebury defense by causing three turnovers apiece.

John Schisler '17 made seven saves for the Continentals.

Zurmuehle picked up seven ground balls to lead Hamilton. Casey Kopp '17 and Sam Sweet '16 had five apiece. Kopp also finished with a career-best four caused turnovers.

Middlebury's John Jackson led the team with seven ground balls and Harrison Goodkind added five.

The Continentals close out their three-game homestand Saturday, hosting Tufts University in a 1 p.m. game. The Jumbos, the defending NCAA champions, are ranked third in the latest national coaches' poll.