Posted by Katie Peverada
On their way to a 12-5 win, the Panthers of Middlebury scored four unanswered goals on three occasions throughout the game.
In the early goings, Skidmore looked posed to give the 11th ranked Panthers a good game, as Kevin Mulvey '16 put one home early to give the Thoroughbreds the early 1-0 lead. This was right after Matt Diaco 14' had made a fantastic save to start the offensive transition. Unfortunately, it would be their only lead, as Middlebury went on to score four unanswered goals, two coming from Panther Andrew Metros, to head into the second period up 4-1. At the 6:34 mark of the second, Josh Berger '15 made it 4-2 off of a Bryan Connolly '13 pass, but again Middlebury went on a 4-0 scoring streak to go up 8-2.
Skye MacLeod '16 opened the second half scoring, netting the first goal of his Skidmore career, and Mulvey added his second of the game to cut the lead in half. But, with seven seconds remaining, Middlebury's Joel Blockowicz made it 9-4 and ignited another scoring attack. By letting Middlebury score the first three goals of the fourth period, Skidmore found themselves in their deepest hole of the game, 12-4. Jon Hoeg '13 would score with 23 seconds remaining to make it 12-5, but it was too little too late for the Thoroughbreds.
Overall, Diaco looked strong in net, making 14 saves. Jon Broome of Middlebury led all scorers with three goals and an assist for four points. Kevin Mulvey had two goals and an assist for the Thoroughbreds, while Hoeg, Berger, and MacLeod all added one goal. Matt Ohara '15 added two assists and Connolly tallied one. Sam Christiansen '15 was strong on defense with four groundballs and two forced turnovers, while Chris Damm '15 scooped up three groundballs.
Skidmore, who fell to 4-9 overall, plays at home at 5 p.m. on Saturday against the Tigers of RIT in a crucial Liberty League match up.