Middlebury
defeated Bates 17-10, ending the regular season at 12-1 (9-0 in NESCAC).
Details will follow, but I thought you might want to know the NESCAC playoff
match ups.
Sunday, May
1:
#1
Middlebury Bye
#2 Bowdoin
hosts #7 Bates
#3
#4 Wesleyan
hosts #5 Tufts
Saturday,
May 7:
12:00 #1
Middlebury hosts lowest remaining seed
3:00 Other two remaining teams
Sunday, May
8:
12:00
NESCAC Championship game
Middlebury
vs. Bates
The game
was our first wet home game and our first wet game on grass, fairly unlikely
scenarios not too many years ago. As has been the case in most games, it
started out tight in the 1st Quarter. I don’t think it has
anything to do with us being “flat”. We tend to play more at an even keel
throughout the game. Other teams are jacked up to beat Middlebury.
I think it is hard to win on pure emotion and that it can lead to lots of ups
and downs, especially in a skilled sport. So, while we want to be “up”
for games, we do not tend to be as jacked up as other teams.
Consequently, some teams have been able to run with us early and not keep
up with us as the game wears on. Or, maybe we just stink in the 1st
Quarter and I can’t figure out why!
Anyway, it
was 2-2 after the 1st, with each team scoring one of their goals
with under 1 minute remaining in the quarter, and they were definitely pumped
up. They play about as hard as anyone in the league and they were doing
so in this game. We were close for much of the 1st Quarter but
some excellent saves and missed cages kept us from putting up big
numbers. We often say that we are looking for good opportunities and we
can feel good if we are getting them early, even if they do not always result
in goals. The 2nd Quarter would provide as many opportunities,
but we were able to cash in more often and we went into the halftime break up
8-4. Jamie Duke got us started with an unassisted goal on a nice dodge
and shot. The rest of the quarter saw us zipping the ball around and the
rest of the goals were all assisted. If we were to give out 2 assists on a goal
as in hockey, we would have racked up lots of assists over the course of the
game. As with the Williams game, the scoring was spread
around. Against Williams we had 15 goal scorers on 17 goals.
Against Bates we had 11 goal scorers on 17 goals. Jamie Duke and Henry
Sheehan led the way against Bates with 3 goals apiece. These 2 guys have
really stepped up their games since the
Bates made
a run in the 3rd Quarter, closing the gap to 9-6 at one point, and
for a while we were not able to pull away. We did not have the ball much
in the first half or so of the 3rd Quarter with a couple of saves by
the goalie on transition shots and several consecutive penalties. When we
were able to get the ball and get back in rhythm we picked up where we left off
in the 2nd Quarter. The score got to 15-6 at one point and we
were on a roll. We were able to get everyone in and involved, so the game
and regular season ended on a high note.
I am proud
of the team for its regular season. In a tough, balanced NESCAC with
quality teams losing 2, 3 and 4 games within the league, we were able to go
9-0. As with past years it was not always easy and individual games could
have easily gone the other way. Now on to what I am certain will be a tough
NESCAC Final 4. We will know by late afternoon the results of today’s
games. As tightly contested as NESCAC has been in recent years, there has
not been one upset in the first round games in the previous 3 years in this
playoff format. Seeds 2, 3 and 4 have always won the Sunday game.
That scenario has seemed unlikely before and it certainly seems unlikely this
year that there will not be one upset. Whichever teams win, the tournament
will be tough!