MEDFORD, Mass. - The Middlebury College men's lacrosse team jumped to an early lead and held off Bowdoin, 10-9, in a NESCAC semifinal match on Saturday afternoon at Tufts University.

The fourth-seeded Panthers (12-5) advance to Sunday's NESCAC title game against Tufts. The third-seeded Polar Bears (12-5) will hope for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament when selections are announced Sunday night.

The Middlebury victory avenges a regular season loss by the Panthers to the Polar Bears, 9-8, in overtime on March 26.

Game Highlights

• Middlebury came out firing, getting the first three goals of the game, including back-to-back scores from Jon Broome and Tim Giarrusso just 43 seconds apart in the opening quarter
• Bowdoin got on the board courtesy of Daniel Buckman late in the period, but Middlebury scored the first two goals of the second quarter, against from Broome and Giarrusso, to extend their advantage to 5-1
• The Polar Bears trimmed the lead before intermission, as Peter Reuter and Brett Kujala found the back of the net with under five minutes to go to make it 5-3 at the break
• The teams traded goals in the third quarter, with Middlebury getting a score from Jack Gould with under a minute left in the stanza to carry an 8-5 lead into the fourth
• Bowdoin clawed back in the fourth quarter, with Kujala sparking a 3-1 run to open the quarter, as Brandon Rothman and Clayton Wright also scored to cut Middlebury's lead to 9-8 with 6:56 to go
• The Panthers replied less than a minute later as Gould scored an unassisted goal to make it 10-8 with 5:59 remaining
• Bowdoin answered with 4:22 to go as Tim Bulens' unassisted score cut the lead again to a single goal, 10-9
• The Panthers won the ensuing faceoff and maintained a long possession on offense that ran the clock under two minutes to go
• Bowdoin's Ryan Kenney forced a turnover and Andrew Cowan scopped the ground ball with 1:07 remaining as the Polar Bears transitioned to offense and a chance to force overtime
• The Polar Bears cycled the ball to Matthew Crowell with 20 seconds remaining, but his shot from about 10 yards out was stopped by Middlebury netminder Will Ernstto secure the victory for the Panthers

By The Numbers

• Tim Giarrusso led all scorers with four goals for Middlebury while Sean Carroll scored twice and assisted on three others for the victors
• Bowdoin was led by two scores from Brett Kujala while Shawn Daly notched a pair of assists
• Will Ernst made 12 saves in the win for Middlebury as Peter Mumford stopped 10 shots in net for Bowdoin
• Middlebury held a 44-38 advantage in shots in the game as both teams went 1-3 with the extra man

Up Next

• Bowdoin will await word on a possible NCAA Tournament bid. The NCAA Selection Show is scheduled for 9:00 p.m. on Sunday evening at www.ncaa.com/live