After 110 minutes of scoreless soccer, Bowdoin edged Middlebury by a 3-2 count in penalty kicks to give the sixth-seeded Polar Bears a thrilling victory over the fourth-seeded Panthers in Saturday's NESCAC semifinal contest at Amherst's Hitchcock Field.

After a tightly contested 90 minutes of regulation, followed by back-and-forth action in two 10-minute periods of extra time, Bowdoin (9-6-2) and Middlebury went to penalty kicks.

In the first round, Polar Bears' net-minder Stevie Van Siclen made a terrific diving stop to his right to get the shootout started, and Bowdoin's Kiefer Solarte scored on his attempt to give the Polar Bears a 1-0 edge. After a miss from both sides, Middlebury's Noah Goss-Woliner leveled the kicks at 1-1, before Eric Goitia buried his try to give Bowdoin a 2-1 lead. A save each from Van Siclen and Middlebury goalkeeper Greg Sydor set the stage for the Panthers' Deklan Robinson, who converted his shot to even the shootout at 2-2. Connor Keefe narrowly beat the outstretched hands of Sydor, who dove to his right and had the ball tick off his hands to give the Polar Bears a hard-fought victory.

Following the first period of overtime, the Panthers produced two terrific opportunities to score through a shot by Greg Conrad and a header by Tom Dils. Van Siclen was there with a pair of crucial saves on each shot, the second of which was a diving stop on his own goal line, and kept the match scoreless.

Bowdoin's most threatening opportunity came in the 96th minute when Thomas Henshall blasted a shot from the right wing that glanced off the crossbar and caromed away harmlessly. 

Middlebury (9-3-5) edged Bowdoin in shots 13-10, while the Polar Bears held a 6-3 advantage in corner kicks. Both Sydor and Van Siclen made a pair of stops during regulation, while Van Siclen turned away a pair of shots in the second overtime session.

Saturday's match marked the team's second-straight postseason tie, as the Panthers advanced to the conference semifinals via a 5-4 penalty kick win during last Saturday's quarterfinal at home against Wesleyan. This game was the seventh overtime match of the season.