THE BASICS:
 
- Score: MIT 13, Williams College 12
 
- Records: MIT (11-0); Williams (6-5)
 
- Location: Cambridge, Mass. (Roberts Field at Steinbrenner Stadium)
 
- The Lead: Despite back-to-back late goals by Calvin Caputo, the MIT men's lacrosse team held on a for 13-12 victory over Williams College on Wednesday night. Graduate student Ryan Gebhardt (Baldwinsville, N.Y.) and senior Gavin Vandenberg (Elmhurst, Ill.) both posted hat tricks for the Engineers as Caputo generated a game-high four goals for the Ephs.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 
- Vandenberg connected on a pass from sophomore Heath Nilsen (Carlsbad, Calif.) after 47 seconds expired. Williams evened the score over three minutes later, when Caputo redirected a feed from Jake Haase. An exchange of goals followed until a solo effort from Thomas Bono gave the Ephs a 3-2 edge with 4:06 left in the opening frame. MIT responded with goals by first-year Dylan Nelson (Sleepy Hollow, N.Y.) and sophomore Bennett Stankovits (Rumson, N.J.) during the final 92 seconds to reclaim the lead.
 
- Stankovits set up sophomore Jack McCordic (Medfield, Mass.) just over four minutes into the second stanza, however, an unassisted strike from Spencer Goodbar narrowed the gap to 5-4 with 6:29 on the clock. Almost two minutes later, sophomore Luke Chapman (Houston, Texas) forced a turnover which was scooped up by senior Ben Dwyer (Baldwinsville, N.Y.) and then Dwyer found Gebhardt for the quick transition goal.
 
- The Engineers slowly pulled away in the third quarter, building a 9-5 advantage at the 5:41 mark. The Ephs responded with three goals in a span of 1:35. Jesse Shapiro buried back-to-back man-up goals with Goodbar and Tim Saffold earning assists while Caputo scored on a pass from Finlay MacKnight. MIT stopped the run courtesy of a goal from Vandenberg with 1:08 remaining.
 
- Williams tied the score at 10 courtesy of goals from Pearse Glavin and MacKnight during the first 1:51 of the fourth quarter. The Engineers replied with their own three-goal burst as strikes by Nilsen sandwiched a goal from first-year Ethan Robertson (Wheatley Heights, N.Y.) that was set up by Nelson. A defensive battle ensued until Caputo redirected a feed from Haase with 2:40 left to play. The Ephs then trimmed their deficit to 13-12 when the Caputo-Haase tandem collaborated for another goal with 54 seconds remaining.
 
- MIT won the ensuing faceoff but turned the ball over. With 26 seconds to go, junior Chris Perrino (Yorktown Heights, N.Y.) forced a turnover, scooped up the groundball, and advanced the ball to the Engineers' attacking end of the field. Moments after taking a timeout with 14 seconds left, Gebhardt launched the ball into the air and was caught by Vandenberg as time expired.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
 
- Nilsen finished with two goals and an assist as Stankovits totaled one goal, one assist, and two caused turnovers. First-year Matthew Sardis (Bernardsville, N.J.) won 20 of his 29 faceoff attempts and collected 14 groundballs. Sophomore Teague Rice (Suffern, N.Y.) posted five groundballs, followed by four from Dwyer and three by junior Andrew Johnson (Dover, Mass.). Perrino and Chapman both produced two caused turnovers while senior Lukas Drexler-Bruce (Denver, Colo.) tallied 10 saves.
 
- Haase earned three assists while Shapiro scored twice. Glavin notched two goals, four groundballs, and two caused turnovers as Owen Roegge registered four groundballs and three caused turnovers. Noah Dewbrey contributed four groundballs while going 9-of-26 on the faceoff "x". In net, Will Bock made 11 saves.
 
- MIT is currently ranked 18^th in the Nike/USA Lacrosse Magazine Poll.
 
- Williams is ranked No. 15 in the Inside Lacrosse Poll and No. 18 in the USILA/Dynamic Coaches Poll.
 
- This was the Engineers' first win over the Ephs since 1969. The series was paused after the 1971 season and resumed in 2018.
 
UP NEXT:
 
- Both teams resume conference play on Saturday, April 16 at 1:00 p.m. MIT will host NEWMAC rival U.S. Coast Guard Academy while Williams will travel to NESCAC foe Amherst College.
 
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