Middlebury had won every NESCAC Championship ever until 2008, when Williams College knocked them out of the top NESCAC spot.
In 2009, it was Wesleyan that stole Middlebury’s thunder and took home the good ol’ Championship.
With Mike Stone graduated it didn’t look like the Panthers would make it back to the Finals in 2010 but their D stepped up and the team started to gel at just the right time.
Would 2010 be the year that the Panthers took back the NESCAC crown?
Video by the spectacular JumbosLaxTV Youtube Channel
No, 2010 wouldn’t be the year. The Panthers made it back to the Finals but didn’t have quite enough to hang with the Jumbos of Tufts University, which is located in Medford, MA.
Coach Mike Daly and the Jumbos took home their first ever NESCAC men’s lacrosse title after years of building an extremely successful program. Tufts used a run-n-gun transition based offense along with an athletic defense and solid special teams to pull out 3 straight Ws in the playoffs and added that to an already impressive regular season resume.
Today, Wednesday, May 19th has the Midd Panthers traveling to Tufts once more but this time for an NCAA Quarterfinal match-up. After seeing how close the last game was, I expect another tight one, especially considering these guys might be playing in a veritable monsoon.
No matter what happens today, Tufts should be congratulated on their success and hard work. They should also be congratulated on uploading tons of highlights onto YouTube.
There are a TON of very talented Tufts Alumni who never took home a trophy so for guys like Brian Griffin, Clem McNally, Devin Clarke, Andy Starr and Jordan Yarboro, 2010 has already been a great year and right now they’re really just hoping it keeps getting better.
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About the Author: Connor is a life-long lacrosse player who doesn’t know when to give up on the game. He played and coached at Wesleyan University and now plays for the Southampton LC in NYC. Connor lives with his fiance in Brooklyn and thanks her for allowing him to keep the dream alive.
Contact him at [email protected].
