Hamilton College's Tim Sommer '22 and Tim Murray '24 scored three goals apiece and the Continentals rallied for a 14-12 NESCAC win against the Middlebury College Panthers at Hamilton's Withiam Field on Wednesday.
 
The Continentals (5-4, 2-4 NESCAC) scored four straight goals during a three-minute, 15-second span at the end of the third quarter and the start of the fourth, and turned a 10-8 deficit into a 12-10 lead. Hamilton hosts winless Bates College for another conference game on Saturday, April 9 at 1 p.m.
 
Nationally ranked No. 16 Middlebury (5-4, 4-2) trailed for 16 seconds during the first three quarters. The Panthers had won the last seven meetings with the Continentals.
 
Neither team led by more than two goals and there were six ties. Middlebury led 4-2 at the end of the first quarter and 6-5 at the half, and the score was tied 10-10 after three quarters.
 
Rowan Brumbaugh '23 contributed a goal and two assists for Hamilton. Justin Pearl '25 notched two goals and Britt Defeo '22 and Christian Byrne '24 added a goal and an assist apiece. Troy Pollock '25 picked up two helpers.
 
Michael Scoleri '24 won 23 of 30 faceoffs for the Continentals. Sommer, Jayme Wilde '25 and Johnny Oblak '24 scooped up five ground balls each. Seamus Fagan '23 made 15 saves including six in the second quarter. Fagan leads the NESCAC with more than 16 stops per game, is second with a .655 save percentage and third with an 8.62 goals against average.
 
William Ryan and Jack Sheehan scored three goals apiece for the Panthers. Tyler Forbes passed out three assists. Billy Curtis, who entered the day with 33 points in eight games, was held to one assist. Billy Dobensky gathered seven ground balls and Andrew Ng caused three turnovers. Finn O'Connor turned away nine shots in goal.
 
Sheehan's unassisted goal with 3:57 left in the third quarter gave Middlebury a 10-8 advantage. Hamilton started its rally with 1:28 remaining in the third when Defeo passed to Murray and he took a couple steps forward and unleashed a hard shot from 13 yards out.
 
The Panthers were assessed a one-minute penalty for unnecessary roughness just moments after Murray's shot, and the Continentals took advantage of their opportunity. Pollock passed to Sommer, who took a few steps forward and fired a low shot from 15 yards away that O'Connor appeared to stop, but the ball popped over his head, rolled off his back and across the goal line with 48.4 seconds to go.
 
Hamilton took its first lead since early in the first quarter 38 seconds into the fourth. A save by Fagan started a clearing attempt and Oblak picked up a loose ball and found Wilde on the Continentals' side of midfield. The defenseman sprinted in from the right wing and put a shot into the top left corner of the net for the 11-10 edge.
 
Nick Taylor '24 followed with his first goal for Hamilton. A shot attempt by Middlebury was blocked and Jack Dorsey '23 came up with the loose ball. Dorsey passed to Tighe Hoey '25 who in turn found Taylor. He took a few steps with the ball and from midfield tried to find Brumbaugh near the goal. His pass sailed over Brumbaugh but instead settled into the back of the net past a surprised O'Connor with 13:13 left.
 
Sheehan pulled the Panthers within one with 10:03 remaining, but Pearl restored the two-goal cushion 51 seconds later. Defeo's shot was stopped by O'Connor but not controlled, and Brumbaugh picked up the loose ball. He found Pearl on the right wing and he scored from 11 yards out into the top-left corner of the net.
 
Patrick Jamin brought Middlebury within a goal again with 6:29 to go, and it stayed that way until Byrne found the back of the net with 2:50 left. Pollock caused a turnover deep in the Panthers' defensive zone with a little more than four minutes remaining. Hamilton burned the 80-second shot clock and just before it expired, Byrne penetrated from the left wing and scored from just outside the crease at a nearly impossible angle.
 
Middlebury took four shots including two on goal in the final two minutes, but Fagan made the two-goal lead stand and touched off a wild celebration by the Continentals. After Pearl gave Hamilton its brief early lead 69 seconds into the first quarter, the Continentals tied the score at 2-2, 4-4, 7-7 and 8-8 before their big rally.
 
Defeo leads Hamilton with 27 points and 12 assists, and Brumbaugh has scored a team-high 17 goals. Marc Welch '22 leads the defense with 33 ground balls and 13 caused turnovers. Scoleri is winning 62.5 percent of his 160 faceoffs.