The 16th-ranked Middlebury men's lacrosse team was edged 14-12 by Hamilton (5-4, 2-4) in a back-and-forth NESCAC contest on Wednesday evening in New York. The Panthers (5-4, 4-2) continue conference play on Saturday with a 1:00 p.m. faceoff at 19th-ranked Wesleyan.
 
Trailing 1-0 early in the first quarter, Middlebury responded when Finn Muldoon ripped a shot into the bottom-right corner to knot the contest at 1-1 with 13:35 remaining. William Ryan gave the Panthers a 2-1 edge with an underhanded quick stick goal at 11:18, before the Continentals answered nine seconds later. Middlebury tallied the final two goals of the quarter, as Ryan recorded his second at 8:35 and Gray Thomas pushed the lead to 4-2 with a top-left corner marker at 1:27.
 
Hamilton scored twice in the early stages of the second stanza, tying the score at 4-4 when Rowan Brumbaugh tallied during a man-up opportunity. Ryan gave Middlebury a 5-4 edge, collecting a rebound just outside the crease at 7:50, while Finn McCarthy scored five minutes later on the doorstep on a stick-to-stick pass from Tyler Forbes. Hamilton's Tim Murray found the back of the goal just 45 seconds later with a left-handed shot, pulling the hosts to within one (6-5) at the halftime break.
 
Jack Sheehan scored for Middlebury on an extra-man opportunity less than a minute into the third quarter for his team-best 20th goal, giving the Panthers a 7-5 lead. The Continentals drew even at 7-7 with scores by Tim Sommer and Will Heher. After trading goals, both sides produced quick two-goal spurts with Middlebury's Tom Conley and Sheehan finding the back of the net, before Murray and Sommer leveled the contest at 10-10 going into the fourth.
 
The hosts recorded the initial two markers of the final stanza, moving ahead 12-10 on a goal from Nick Taylor with 13:13 left. Sheehan cut the Continental lead to one (12-11) just over three minutes later with a tally from 12 yards out on the right side. Hamilton's Justin Pearl scored at the 9:12 mark during an unsettled situation in the offensive end, before the Panthers drew to within one (13-12) with 6:29 on the clock when Patrick Jamin tallied a goal from just outside the crease. Christian Byrne provided the final score for the hosts, as his driving attempt from the left trickled over the goal line for a 14-12 lead with 2:50 remaining. Middlebury had four shots in the final minutes but couldn't score in the 14-12 setback.  
 
Sheehan and Ryan each scored three times to pace the Panther offense, while Forbes dished out three assists. Andrew Ng had a team-high three caused turnovers to go along with three groundballs, while Billy Dobensky scooped up seven rollers. Finn O'Connor (5-4) had nine saves in goal for Middlebury. 
 
Hamilton was led by Sommer and Murray with three goals apiece, while Brumbaugh had three points on a goal and two helpers. Michael Scoleri had four groundballs and won 23-30 faceoffs, while Johnny Oblak collected five groundballs. Seamus Fagan (5-4) earned the win for Hamilton, stopping 15 shots and picking up four groundballs.