The Middlebury men's soccer team scored once in each half on its way to a 2-0 victory over host and fourth-ranked Franklin & Marshall (15-4-1) during the second round of the NCAA Tournament in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The Panthers (12-4-3) advance to the Sectional Semifinal next weekend where they will play John Carroll at 1:30 p.m. at host school Amherst.
 
The Diplomats looked to get on the scoreboard in the 16th minute, but a shot by Christian Avila Neres sailed wide to the right on a set-piece. Turning the momentum toward their offensive end of the pitch, the Panthers struck with 29:29. As part of a corner kick, Casey Lund gathered the loose ball on the right, bending a cross which found the head of Ben Powers who tucked it in under the crossbar and just past the fingertips of Diplomat goalie Sam Altman Farrell. The tally was Powers' second goal of the season.
 
Nearly 10 minutes later, the hosts looked to knot the game in the 38th minute, but Panther goalie Ryan Grady made his only save of the half on a header from Kane Feudtner.
 
Out of the intermission, the Panthers doubled their lead to 2-0 at 49:27 when Jordan Saint-Louis scored with an assist from Brendan Barry. Saint-Louis' tally was his team-best seventh score.
 
Looking to go up by three, Saint-Louis blasted a shot from 25 yards in the 69th minute, but Altman Farrell collected the ball going to his right. With 23 minutes showing on the clock, the Diplomats had a good scoring opportunity, as Steven Yakita had a rising attempt from 30 yards away which glanced off the crossbar and bounced away to keep the Panther advantage at 2-0.
 
Franklin & Marshall looked to cut the deficit in half in the latter stages of the match, but Grady made a diving stop to his right on a penalty-kick attempt by A.J. Kopacz with 1:55 left to preserve the shutout and propel the Panthers to the round of 16.
 
Grady tallied two saves in the victory, posting his 12th shutout of the campaign to move him into a tie for second on the single-season list for Middlebury. He remains in the top-10 in Division III in goals-against average (0.35) and save percentage (.897). Altman Farrell made nine saves for the Diplomats in the contest.
 
Middlebury held an 18-10 advantage in shots, while Franklin & Marshall took nine of the match's 10 corner kicks.