Box Score
Box Score

MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – Powered by six first-half goals, including four by senior Mike Stone (Boston, MA/Wellesley), the fourth-ranked Middlebury College men's lacrosse team defeated Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), 11-6 in non-conference action on Tuesday. The Panthers, who have won seven straight games, improve to 8-1 on the season. The Red Hawks drop to 5-5 overall.

Middlebury struck first early in the opening quarter as senior attack Tom Petty (Newburyport, MA/Phillips Exeter) and Stone put the Panthers up 3-0 by the 12:50 mark. RPI struck back as rookie Austin Ray (Sandwich, MA/Tabor Academy) converted a shot for his sixth goal of the season to pull the visitors to within two (3-1) at 5:37.

The deficit once again grew for the Red Hawks as Middlebury scored two goals in the second stanza to take a 5-1 advantage. Ray answered for Rensselaer off a feed from Nick Billy (Redding, CT/Joel Barlow) and junior Brett Evans (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) and classmate Paul Cerone (Ridgefield, CT/Ridgefield) each tallied late in the frame to pull RPI to within two (6-4) at halftime.

Momentum was in Middlebury's favor in the second half as the Panthers outscored RPI, 4-1 in the frame. Cerone tallied at the 3:55 mark, but it was the home team which rallied off three straight goals in the final 2:41 for a 10-5 lead heading into the final quarter.

Cerone and Stone each scored for their respective teams in the fourth period, but Rensselaer was unable to overcome the deficit.

Stats in the game favored the home team as Middlebury held a 32-25 advantage in shots. In ground balls, the Panthers led, 50-41, and went 12 of 20 on the face-off.

Leading the way for Middlebury was Stone, who tallied six goals. Petty had two goals while senior attack Schuyler Hopkins (Easton, MD/McDonough School) finished with a goal and an assist. In goal for the Panthers, senior Pete Britt (Sutton, NJ/Sutton) stopped 13 saves for the win.

For Rensselaer, Cerone tallied a team-best three goals while Ray added two tallies. Billy finished with two assists while Red Hawks netminders Ryan DeJordy (Albany, NY/Columbia) and Angelo Luppino (Mt. Kisco, NY/Fox Lane) combined for nine saves. DeJordy, who started the game, made one save and returned in the final minute of the game. Luppino made eight stops in 40:20.

Rensselaer returns to action on Thursday afternoon as it hosts SUNY-Cobleskill in a non-conference match at 4pm at Harkness Field. The Red Hawks then head to Swarthmore on Saturday for a 1pm game. Middlebury is in action once again on Saturday as they host NESCAC rival and 10th-ranked Tufts at 2pm.