Middlebury's comeback effort against #7 Wesleyan came up short, as the Panthers (1-3, 1-2) suffered a 12-6 loss at the hands of the Cardinals (4-1, 2-1). The game was played as part of the Mustang Classic, hosted by Stevenson University in Owings Mills, Maryland. The Panthers return to action on Saturday when they play #8 Dickinson at Stevenson with an 11:30 a.m. faceoff.

Wesleyan came out firing, scoring the game's first six goals in 11:53. Tyler Forbes put Middlebury on the board, scoring a man-up tally from the right side after a feed from Chase Goree.

Leading 6-1 in the second quarter, the Cardinals tallied three more times, including a man-up goal at the 3:11 mark from Christian Barker for a 9-1 advantage. Middlebury scored the final tally of the half when A.J. Kucinski found Luke Peterson, making it a 9-2 game at the break.

Forbes opened the second half scoring, ripping a shot into the back of the net from the left side. Wesleyan then went up 11-3 before the Panthers rattled off three-straight goals. Frank Cosolito got things going with an underhanded shot after a pass from Forbes. The play was set up by a big ground ball win behind the net by Alderik van der Heyde. Goree converted a pass from the left side by Ryan Feldmann, scoring from 10 yards out. Goree struck again with 53 seconds remaining in the quarter, taking a feed from behind the net by Forbes before finding the back of the net.

Leading 11-6, Wesleyan scored the only goal of the fourth quarter with 4:36 remaining to secure the victory.

Forbes finished with two goals and two assists for the Panthers, while Goree scored twice with a helper. Nick Peterson recorded a game-high five ground balls and caused three turnovers. Charles Midgley finished with 17 saves in goal.

Four different players scored twice for the Cardinals, while Carter Hawthorne dished out six assists. Otto Bohan played a majority of the game, earning 11 saves to pick up the win.