This past
weekend was pretty special up in Middlebury. On consecutive 70 degree,
sunny days we were treated to some great lacrosse, first in our OT game vs.
Bowdoin, won by Middlebury on a Dave Leach goal. The second game was on
Sunday, also won by Middlebury (alumni) in OT vs. Middlebury (alumni) on a cannon of a shot by Myron “Peter” Kohn. In a
brilliant coaching move by the Middlebury “white” team, Kohn was inserted into
the lineup in the early stages of OT, making his first and only appearance in
the game. Old timers at the game noted that is was “déjà vu all over
again”, as apparently Kohn has been used in this role in the past. Kohn
dodged repeated attempts by talented young alumni to strip him of the ball (in
fact, it seemed as if Jed Raymond would, in fact, strip him on several
occasions, which would have resulted in the infamous Alumni Corn.)
Peter’s stick protection prevailed, however, and he left the would-be defenders
lying in his wake. A collective roar (or, moan I guess) was heard as Kohn
ripped his first shot wide of the goal. Thankfully the ball only dribbled
inches past the goal which astonished bystanders who had dived for cover on the
wind up. Kohn was able to retrieve his own shot and he proceeded to
blister another cannon past freshman goaltender, Kevin
Croken, who is reportedly in stable condition after
the shock and awe of facing down the vaunted Kohn shot not once, but twice in
OT. Both benches emptied at the conclusion of the game as Kohn’s heroics
transcended “Blue” and “White” reversible jerseys.
On
Saturday, parents, players and alumni moved from our post-game tailgate to
McCardell Bicentennial Hall for a showing of “Keeper of the Kohn”. If you
have not seen this final version, you must do so. It was the first
opportunity I had to see the final version and it is a touching film. I
am not a film critic, so my description cannot do justice to what David Gaynes
has produced for us. Thanks for a wonderful tribute to Peter, David, and
congratulations on what you have produced.
After the
film the alumni returned to Kenyon Lounge for an Alumni Dinner. The
dinner was well attended by recent alumni as usual. An
excellent turn out of players from ’99-’04. We also had Bobo, Will
Graham, Dave Furney, George Cady and Coach Rob
Pfeiffer from the ‘70’s, Craig Westling and Pam Quinn
from ’88, Hugh and Barbara Marlow from all Middlebury classes, as well as
Hannah and Connor Quinn from future classes! You may remember we invited
Coach Pfeiffer back in honor of the 30th Anniversary of his
departure from Middlebury. We read a moving tribute from Mike Mulligan
and Will Graham entertained us with a couple of great Pfeiff
stories. I was thrilled that Coach Pfeiffer could attend and represent
those great Middlebury teams and players. The current teams and coaches stand
on their shoulders.
I touched
on Pete’s heroics in the Alumni game earlier, but I should note that it was a
fun game up to the OT as well. There was no doubt in my mind why our
teams have been successful, watching the antics in Alumni Stadium. A
couple of highlights: watching Greg Hickey ’77 strip a nameless ’02 attackman (unfortunately, Greg’s daughter was playing
Ultimate Frisbee for Middlebury on the adjacent field and probably missed it),
Bobo Sideli playing with daughter Liana in attendance as a Middlebury student,
anytime Zach Herbert touched the ball, not knowing
where the shot would come from (still playing great, trying to live down Boo Boo), Holt’s backbreakers, Krieger’s laugh and effortless,
taunting saves of the “popcorn” shots, C Bas speed (not behind the back
“shot”), Friz schooling Dog, Dumptruck,
Jed’s stick(other than when he is stripping Pete), seeing John West healthy
again, not Ceni’s underhand shots, not Chuck’s
tackling ability, Caleb looks like he’s still playing for us, Dumptruck, Matt not backing Jed in, Scott Leach trying to
look like Dave Leach (reasonable facsimile), not Tobey’s
left, just generally admiring the talented players back on Alumni
Stadium. Of course, the true highlight was sharing some time with some
great guys on a special weekend.
Thanks to
everyone who made it back, it was a great weekend!
If you can
make it, we play Trinity at Trinity at 1:00pm this Saturday and then Colby at
Trinity 11:00am on Sunday.