Keyed by specialist John Jackson's 19-24 face-off wins and an amazing collection of 13 groundballs, Middlebury (4-1, 2-1) secured an 11-9 NESCAC win over visiting Wesleyan at Youngman Field at Alumni Stadium on Saturday. In the second half, the hosts built several four-goal leads over the Cardinals (2-3, 2-1), enough to keep the visitors at bay before a pair of last-minute tallies by Wesleyan set the final two-goal margin. Middlebury returns to action when they host Endicott on Tuesday in a non-league contest, while the Cardinals travel to Franklin and Marshall on Wednesday.

The Panthers earned a 2-0 lead in the first quarter, highlighted by a bounce shot by Joel Blockowicz that snuck under the crossbar. The Cardinals made it a 2-1 game at 2:43 in the first on a quick-stick feed from Matt Prezioso behind the X to Lyle Mitchell.

Middlebury added two more goals to start the second quarter, including another bouncer from Blockowicz at 5:22. Niall Devaney made it a 4-2 game as the Cardinal made a sweeping dodge to his right for his lone goal of the contest. Sean Carroll gave the hosts a 5-2 cushion heading into the break on a goal set-up by David Murray at 3:20.

Murray opened the third quarter feigning a couple attempts right in front of Wesleyan's starting goalie Justin Schick before tickling the twine for the Panthers' first four-goal advantage at 10:23. Harry Stanton notched the next two for Wesleyan with a pair of doorstep tallies, cutting the deficit to 6-4 with 3:16 left to play in the third.

After winning 12-14 face-offs in the first three quarters, Jackson opened the fourth by winning the quarter-opening face-off and fed Jack Rautiola's first of three fourth-quarter goals. With Middlebury holding an 8-4 advantage, the scoring pace picked up in the final frame. Wesleyan made it a three-goal deficit at 10:55 on a Stephen Dodd tally, only to be countered by a Panther goal by Jon Broome off a Blockowicz assist just over a minute later. The teams exchanged two goals apiece as Rautiola accounted for both Panther scores, including his hat-trick tally at 3:44.

Trailing 11-7 in the final minute, Wesleyan strung a pair of goals together including Mitchell's second with 34 seconds remaining, followed by Nate Ryan's goal with 13 seconds left in the game.

Rautiola finished with three goals and Blockowicz added two goals and an assist for Middlebury, while Murray and Jack Cleary each chipped in a goal and assist. Jackson's groundballs and face-off wins were career-highs, as goalie Will Ernst (4-1) made nine saves in net.

Stanton finished with two goals, a team-best six groundballs and an assist to lead Wesleyan. Mitchell and Dodd each had a pair of goals, while Perzioso chipped in two assists. Schick (2-3) took the loss in net, making a dozen saves while allowing 10 goals in 53:24. Reserve netminder Ted Bergman allowed one goal in the final minutes of play.