Following a resounding 11-5 victory over Williams on Jackson Field on Sunday afternoon, the men’s lacrosse team is headed to Middlebury for the NESCAC tournament semifinals, a familiar destination for the Cardinals. Middlebury has hosted every NESCAC tournament except for the 2007 Championship (which was hosted by Tufts), and Wesleyan has advanced to the semifinals every year except 2002. The Cardinals will also meet the host Panthers for the fifth time in the last six years, albeit a round earlier than usual. The teams met in the finals every year from 2004-2007, with Middlebury taking all four meetings.

Middlebury is fresh off a 16-7 victory over Amherst and sits at 13-1 on the season, with its lone loss coming in Middletown on March 14 by an 8-7 score. (Wesleyan has taken the regular-season match between the two teams three of the last four years, with two of the wins coming in Vermont.) The Panthers are searching for their eighth title in the nine-year history of the tournament, having fallen to sixth-seeded Williams in the semifinals last year. With the top seeds all having won on Sunday, the 2009 tournament will snap a two-year streak of the sixth seed winning the title.

Middlebury has outscored its opponents 180-140 and has done most of its damage in the third quarter—holding a 54-29 aggregate advantage in the period—while Wesleyan has outscored its opponents to the tune of 97-40 in the first half of its 15 games in 2009. Faceoff success has been key to both teams’ fortunes this year, and Saturday’s battle will pit Wesleyan’s Matt Ward ’10, who has won 62.4 percent (161-258) of draws in 2009, against Middlebury’s Dave Campbell ’09, who has taken the draws at a 56.3 percent clip (188-334). 

Middlebury boasts one of the top complements of offensive midfielders in the NESCAC, with Mike Stone ’09 and Skyler Hopkins ’09 combining for 101 points (75 goals, 26 assists). Stone’s 48 tallies lead the NESCAC, as his per-game average of 3.43 is also top in the conference. Wesleyan counters with the three-headed monster of attackmen Russ Follansbee ’09, Jason Ben-Eliyahu ’09, and Jon Killeen ’10, who has combined for 127 points (74 goals, 53 assists) in 2009. Wesleyan also has a similarly potent offensive midfield, led by Lonny Blumenthal ’10 (18 goals, seven assists) and Dan Latzman ’09 (17 goals, seven assists).

Wesleyan holds a decided advantage on the defensive side, with Spike Malangone ’09, John Froats ’12 and Gabe Kelley ’11 anchoring the Cardinals’ zone defense. The trio has combined for 190 ground balls so far, and Kelley, the Cardinals’ long-pole midfielder, has also been a threat on the offensive end, scoring four goals on 21 shots. In the cage, Mike Borrero ’09 ranks first in the NESCAC in goals-against average (5.91) and fourth in save percentage (.587). While Borrero is tenth in the conference in saves per game, making an average of just 6.53 stops, this is a function of Wesleyan’s zone defense, which is designed to limit shooters’ penetration and force wide shots from far out. Middlebury’s Peter Britt ’09 ranks ninth in the conference in GAA (9.99) and save percentage (.527). The Panthers, however, have been held to fewer than 11 goals only once this year, in their 8-7 loss to Wesleyan.

With a win, Wesleyan will face the winner of the Tufts-Bowdoin semifinal. Bowdoin ended Wesleyan’s 2008 season with an 11-9 win in the NESCAC semifinals, denying the Cardinals an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2004. Wesleyan fell at Bowdoin 4-3 in both teams’ season opener on March 7 and also fell at Tufts 12-10 in April in a game Malangone missed due to illness. Wesleyan has never played either team in a NESCAC title match; the Cardinals are 2-1 against Tufts in postseason play (including 1-1 in the semifinals) and 1-2 against Bowdoin in the tournament, with both losses coming in the semis. A run to the title game would likely secure another berth in the NCAA tournament for the fourth time in five seasons.