AMHERST, Mass. – William Ryan scored five goals for Middlebury College as the Panthers used a run of five unanswered goals spanning halftime to earn a 17-11 win over the Amherst College men's lacrosse team in NESCAC action on Saturday on Pratt Field at Lehrman Stadium. Amherst's seniors in the Class of 2023 were honored on the field with their families before their final regular-season home game.

The Panthers, ranked fifth in the nation in the latest USILA Division III poll, improved to 13-1 overall and 8-1 in the NESCAC with their sixth straight win. The 11th-ranked Mammoths fell 9-4 overall and 5-4 in conference play.

Despite the loss, the Mammoths clinched a berth in the NESCAC Tournament thanks to other results around the league. The Mammoths conclude the regular season on Wednesday (April 26), visiting Trinity for a 6 p.m. contest.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

* The Mammoths struck first as senior attack Tanyr Krummenacher scored two-and-a-half minutes into the game. The Panthers responded 32 seconds later with a goal from Ryan but Amherst reclaimed the lead 25 seconds after that when junior Connor Guest scored his sixth goal of the season. Krummenacher scored his second of the game to give the Mammoths a 3-1 lead with 9:51 on the clock in the first period.

* A string of three straight Middlebury goals within two minutes swung the lead in the Panthers' favor as sophomore midfielder William Munroe scored his first of the season before Ryan and sophomore attack Billy Curtis scored to give Middlebury a 4-3 lead with 8:14 to go in the first.

* First-year attack Bob Gross scored to level the score at 4-4 before the Panthers took the lead again with goals 39 seconds apart from junior midfielder Jake Peluso and first-year midfielder Cooper DeMallie.

* The Panthers built a 9-6 lead in the second quarter before the Mammoths scored three straight goals in less than a minute to tie the score at 9-9. Krummenacher was involved in all three tallies, assisting junior attack Jake Bennett and Gross before scoring his fourth of the game with 4:08 on the clock in the second.

* Sophomore Russell Thorndike and Ryan scored for Middlebury less than a minute apart late in the second quarter to give the Panthers an 11-9 halftime lead.

* The Panthers scored the only three goals of the third quarter as Curtis netted a pair before DeMallie added another in the final seconds to give Middlebury a 14-9 lead.

* Krummenacher and Gross scored the first two goals of the fourth quarter to key a Mammoths comeback effort but the Panthers scored the final three goals to put the game away.

BY THE NUMBERS:

* Krummenacher tallied five goals and three assists to lead the Mammoths with his second eight-point game of the season. Gross scored three for the sixth hat trick of his rookie campaign while Bennett tallied two goals and an assist.

* The Mammoths outshot the Panthers, 49-40, but Middlebury first-year goalkeeper Hayden Kern made 16 saves to earn the win.

* Sophomore Nicholas Kopp won 23 of 31 face-offs for the Mammoths and picked up nine ground balls, matching senior defenseman Robinson Armour for the game-high ground ball total.