Middlebury advanced to the NESCAC semifinal round for the 13th time in 15 years after moving past Wesleyan (8-5-3) in a quarterfinal contest. The game ended in a 1-1 tie, but the Panthers advanced 5-4 on penalty kicks. Fourth-seeded Middlebury will meet sixth-seeded Bowdoin on Saturday, November 8th at 11:00 a.m. at Amherst. The second-seeded Jeffs will take on eighth-seeded Connecticut College in the other semifinal contest at 1:30. The championship game will be played at noon on Sunday.

Wesleyan had the best chances to score in the first half, but could not get on the board. Just four minutes in, Chris Kafina took a hard shot at the right side of the goal that was stopped by defender Kirk Horton. In the 23rd minute, Hans Erickson had a good look in the middle of the box, but his shot sailed high.

The Cardinals broke through 53:36 into the game with a goal from Kafina. Brandon Sousa worked a give and go with Omar Bravo before making a feed to Kafina, who was able to slide a shot past Panther keeper Greg Sydor and into the right side of the net.

Wesleyan nearly put the game out of reach in the 84th minute, but Sydor made a big save in a one-on-one situation with Sousa.

Middlebury tied the game up with just 4:11 remaining on the second of the year from Tom Bean. After Noah Goss-Woliner's initial shot was saved by Emmett McConnell, the rebound came loose to Bean, who finished to the left side of the goal.

The Cardinals had another chance with under 3:00 remaining, but Sydor got a hand on a shot from Kafina, who broke in all alone.

Following a pair of scoreless overtimes, the game moved on to penalty kicks. The Cardinals got off to a great start when McConnell made a diving save to his right on the first attempt by Goss-Woliner. Ben Bratt converted for Wesleyan to give them a 1-0 lead after one round.

With the shootout knotted at 4-4, Charlie Gruner had a chance to win it for Wesleyan, but Sydor dove to his right and made the save to force an extra round. Riding the momentum, Horton blasted a shot into the left side to put his team on top, 5-4.

Adam Cowie-Haskell was in a "must score" situation for the Cardinals, but his shot to the right side was denied when it hit Sydor, and the Panthers advanced to the semifinals.

Shots in the game were even at 12-12, with Sydor (eight saves) and McConnell (three saves) both playing 110 minutes.