Our season came to an end over the weekend down in Williamstown in the NESCAC Qtrs and wrapped up what turned out to be a tough week for our squad. Heading into the last regular season game on Wednesday not only did we have a chance to keep the Thomsen Trophy in Middlebury for a 7th straight year, but we were playing for our 7th straight NESCAC win (after starting 0-3). We also would have locked up the #3 seed in the NESCAC tourney with a victory. Unfortunately after taking a 6-3 lead into halftime we couldn't get anything going offensively in the 2nd half and with the loss ended up as the 5 seed. Hence the rematch with Williams down at their place on Saturday.

The game was played on their grass soccer field where many of you probably played back in the day. I still recall in 97 we played over where their practice football fields are now and don't remember if we played over on the soccer field in 99 or not. Williams came out on fire offensively and stuck their first few shots of the game and we missed a few golden opportunities that would have allowed our guys to settle into the game. Coupled with a turnover plagued 2nd quarter, we found ourselves down 6-1 at the half. We scored the first couple of goals in the 2nd half but weren't able to get it any closer than three the rest of the way. Williams scored an empty net goal with two seconds remaining to make it 13-9.

It was certainly a disappointing way to end the year after making so much progress over the past three weeks. I expected us to play our best lacrosse of the year this past week but ultimately that wasn't the case and give credit to Williams for earning the win up here and playing a heck of a game on Saturday. You all would have been proud of the way our guys competed and with how hard they played in the 2nd half but we simply spotted them too big of a lead in the 1st half.

We're going to miss this group of seniors as they came into their own this year and many of them stepped up in a big way. The familiar names in the line up from last year such as Nate Gaudio, Darric White, George Curtis, and Chris Peterson all had tremendous seasons and we'll have some big shoes to fill in all of those spots. We're also going to be losing our top two midfield scorers in Steve Seymour (25g,3a) who turned himself into one of the best off ball players in the league and Brian Ayers (10g,12a). Geoff Vrla ended up starting at close defense all year and was playing some great lacrosse for us down the stretch. Fortunately for all of us, our men's lacrosse alumni group is gaining some outstanding members with this class . They all represented our program in such a positive way during their time at Middlebury both on and off the field. They were also one of our most active groups in terms of community service and their outreach in the community and they all have very bright futures ahead of them.