Middlebury closed out its spring trip with an 8-6 victory over the Conn. College Camels, coached (extremely well!)by Dave Campbell, '00.  The team showed some flashes of excellence, but we were not able to sustain that level throughout and Conn fought hard to keep it a close, competitive game.  It is amazing how fine a line it is between the runs we would make to go up by several goals and then a lull that would bring Conn back into the game.  I also pointed out to the team that there are certainly many things we could have done better but your opponent has a say in the outcome as well, so sometimes you have to give them some credit without ignoring areas of concern with our own team.  We had an excellent turnout of Alumni, many of whom were reminded of very similar games they played in at Connecticut College over the years.

We opened the game with 2 goals fairly early, both created by Coach Ritter and our players effectively using the mid-line for substitution, beating the Conn. midfielders in, creating and finishing a 6-5 situation.  After Conn tied the score at 2 we were able to pull away 6-3 at the half with some great transition goals.  In fact, at times we almost had too much transition in the sense that we were able to get out and run all day; when we executed and finished we made runs, when we did not finish we also did not have the ball for settled possessions.  This was a problem in the sense that Conn was not able to run on us but were very effective with their possessions, so they were able to control overall possession time in the game. 

Despite the possession time we were able to pull away to an 8-3 lead early in the second half, apparently gaining a secure hold on the game.  While we did maintain control of the game for much of the remainder, we were not to score again, and Conn scored some 4th Quarter goals to make it very interesting at the end!  Our lack of scoring was due to a number of factors.  Conn continued to have quality possessions, even when they did not score they were able to control the flow.  We had several disappointing turnovers due to some poor decisions or poor execution.  We also had 4 penalties in the half which took the ball out of our hands and took us out of any rhythm.  During these stretches we also created some very good opportunities which resulted in missed shots or nice saves, but not the goals which would have put the game out of reach.

Travis Meyer was 2/2 and Bastis, Sisto and Cabrera each added 2 goals.  Cabrera's came in first half as he went out injured and missed the second half and the end of the first.  He will be back, we're not sure exactly when.

On defense, Gabe Wood and Ben Raymond were standouts.  The game ball went to Ben Raymond.  Both created a bunch of turnovers.  Ben was actively involved in the sliding game, an area in which he excels, arriving with impeccable timing and strong checks.  Gabe intercepted some passes and they were both instrumental in getting us started in transition.  Long Stick Midfielder, Glenn Bickley, and Short Stick d-mid, Chip Campbell, were also excellent in transition.  Alex Palmisano had another very solid day, making 13 saves.

We have a tough stretch coming up, the next two are Springfield at Springfield Wednesday at 6:00pm and Wesleyan at home Saturday at 1:00pm.

Best,
Erin