CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – With less than two minutes left in regulation freshman Graham Davis (Crofton, Md.) scored what proved to be the game-winning goal as MIT edged Skidmore College, 9-8, in a non-conference men's lacrosse game. Davis led the Engineers with three goals, while senior Josh Trachtenberg (Larchmont, N.Y.) and freshman Cody Legeza (Ponte Verda, Fla.) each scored twice to lead the Thoroughbreds.

MIT (2-0) and Skidmore (1-2) traded goals in the first five minutes of the game before the Engineers found the back of the net twice to take a 3-1 lead. The Engineers broke the tie with a goal from sophomore Harris Stolzenberg (Weston, Fla.) five minutes in off an assist from senior Chris Cook (Tully, N.Y.). From behind the Skidmore goal with a minute left in the opening quarter, Cook found junior Luke Verdi (Middletown, N.Y.) cutting in front of the net. His pass over the goal hit him in stride and Verdi put it away for the two-goal lead.

Skidmore took advantage of a man-up opportunity early in the second quarter, with Legeza notching his first of the day to pull the Thoroughbreds back within a goal. Four minutes later freshman Jack Curry (Holliston, Mass.) tied the game with an unassisted tally. The back-and-forth battle continued, with MIT rallying for a pair of scores in a two-minute span. Junior Paul Orrson's (Baltimore, Md.) over the shoulder score at 6:36 finished the quick rally and had the Engineers' lead back up to a pair of goals, which is where it stayed at the half.

Skidmore had the upper hand in the beginning of the third quarter, with the Thoroughbreds scoring three times in just two and a half minutes. Trachtenberg had a hand in all three goals, assisting on the second and scoring the first and third, with his goal at 7:29 giving Skidmore its first lead of the game at 6-5. Davis tied it back up again for MIT with a man-up goal before Cook put the Engineers back on top off a Davis assist, 7-6

MIT held that lead until early in the fourth quarter when Skidmore again struck for a pair of quick scores. Freshman Brendan Halloran (Pleasantville, N.Y.) tied it at the 13-minute mark before senior Brock Bakewell (Tucson, Ariz.) picked up the ground ball from the ensuing faceoff and raced in for the score to put the Thoroughbreds back on top.

A goal from Verdi tied the game for the sixth time at the 8:52 mark, and that is where it stayed for the next seven minutes as the two teams could only get off a combined five shots in the span. MIT finally broke through, with Davis notching his goal off a pass from Stolzenberg with 1:43 to go. MIT won the face-off, but turned the ball over to give Skidmore a chance at the equalizer. The Thoroughbreds called a timeout with 27 seconds left to set up a final push, but sophomore Zak Psaras (Monroe, Conn.) jarred the ball lose for MIT, with freshman David Klee (East Greenbush, Conn.) scooping up the ground ball that enabled the Engineers to run out the clock.

Junior Eric Bartell (San Diego, Calif.) made 15 stops in goal for MIT, while freshman Chris Baughan (Foxboro, Mass.) had nine saves for Skidmore. The Thoroughbreds held a slight 38-36 edge in shots, while the Engineers had a 36-32 advantage in ground balls.

MIT will play its first road game of the season next, taking on the University of New England on March 14 at 1:00 p.m. Skidmore will host Amherst College in its next outing, taking on the Lord Jeffs on March 10 at 6:00 p.m.