Enduring the long drive to Vermont and the heckling of Middlebury alumni, the men’s lacrosse team proved that it is the champagne of the NESCAC, coming from behind to defeat the Middlebury Panthers 5-4 in overtime.

“Their fans were ridiculous,” said Dan Latzman ’09. “They would just scream at everything. It was really annoying and was an extremely harsh environment to be in.”

Russ Follansbee ’09 broke a scoreless tie in the first quarter, tucking a low shot as he dodged from behind the cage. Three minutes later, a pushing penalty on Wesleyan gave Middlebury a man advantage, and the Panthers capitalized with a goal from attackman Nick Bastis. Another goal two minutes later by Middlebury midfielder Tom Petty gave the Panthers a 2-1 lead heading into the second period. A marker from Jason Ben-Eliyahu ’09 with 8:12 left in the second quarter tied the game at two, and neither team found the net again until the middle of the fourth quarter.

The defensive battle between the two teams reflected the tense feeling of the important NESCAC match up and the efficient scouting both teams had done in the previous week. Coming into the game, Wesleyan had two main concerns: stopping Middlebury’s All-American face-off specialist Peter Mellen from consistently winning possession for the Panthers, and contesting all of Middlebury’s superb shooters when they looked to pull the trigger. The Cards were successful on both points.

The Cardinal defenders played every Middlebury possession tight, and only 14 of Middlebury’s 39 shots were on cage. Spike Malangone ’09 drew the toughest assignment of the game, matching up against Middlebury’s All-NESCAC offensive leader Jim Cabrera. In last year’s NESCAC final, Cabrera scored several outside bounce shots that kept Middlebury in the game. On Saturday, Malangone shut down Cabrera and the mid-attackman was held off the score sheet for the first time this season. In addition, Bobby Goulding ’08 and Matt Ward ’10 alternated face-offs and limited Mellen to only 7 of 12 draws won.

“Matt Ward was very impressive facing-off,” said Mike Polhemus ’08. “I didn’t know he could use his aerodynamic lower body so gracefully to dominate Mellen. Mellen had no idea what was in his face half the time.”

Pre-season All American and Tri-Captain Peter Harris ’07 donned his uniform and finally broke out of his foot cast to energize the Cardinals. He didn’t actually play, but just like “Booby” Miles in Friday Night Lights, simply seeing Pete jogging onto the field brought cheers from the stands and boosted the Cards’ confidence.

“You can’t underestimate the return of Peterman,” Polhemus said. “He might not have played in the game, but he practiced hard all week and his presence was felt on the sideline on Saturday. Just a glimpse of his charming face brought smiles to all the freshmen who have yet to play with him.”

Despite the stellar defense, Wesleyan’s offense looked confused and timid at times. It often fired ineffective shots into the Middlebury goalie’s stick. Too much isolation, dodging, and shooting kept the Middlebury defense from shifting and the Cards from scoring.

In the fourth quarter, Wesleyan got a boost from a Mike Hines ’07 rocket into the goal on a man advantage play. The Panthers responded quickly in the ensuing two minutes, scoring twice to grab a 4-3 lead they held until the final 30 seconds. Coming out of a timeout with 22 seconds to play, Chris Jasinski ’08 picked up the ball and began a dodge from the left-side wing. Getting a step on his man, Jasinski fired a seemingly impossible shot from a difficult angle that somehow snuck into the right corner, sending the game into overtime.

The Cards seem to enjoy overtime, as they have gone 13-1 in overtime games during Coach John Raba’s tenure, the lone loss coming against Cortland State last year in the NCAA semifinal game.

In the extra session, Ben-Eliyahu picked up a loose ball at the midfield line and passed to a sprinting Jeff McLaren ’06, who streaked down the middle of the field on a fast break. McLaren fed the ball to Grayson Connors ’08, who had a chance to shoot but elected to pass to a wide-open Follansbee.

Follansbee faked once and buried the shot in the net, giving Wesleyan the win. Follansbee now has six game-winning scores this season and three in the last ten days.

“Standing on the sideline for two years now, I’ve seen a lot of crazy things happen in games,” Polhemus said. “I think that Grayson passing the ball to Russ in overtime instead of shooting was one of the most shocking plays I’ve experienced as a Wesleyan Cardinal cheerleader.”

Next on the menu for the Cardinals is a streaky Bates team that sports an unimpressive 2-5 NESCAC record but has beaten Wesleyan in each of the past six years.

“We absolutely will not take this next game lightly,” Latzman said. “They have beaten us for awhile and Coach hates them. We’ve got them in the Birdcage on Saturday, and we don’t lose in the Birdcage.”

Some have raised concern over the numerous close games that have earned this team the nickname “cardiac kids.” However, the players see all the tight games as great preparation for high-pressure games in the NESCAC and NCAA tournaments.

“These overtime wins and really close games will help us when it matters,” Latzman said. “We know how to win games that aren’t blowouts, against opponents that are skilled and play hard. In the NCAAs and NESCACs, that’s the only type of game there is, and with all our close wins, we are prepared to go into those games and succeed.”