Middlebury trailed by two goals early in the fourth quarter, but the Panthers outscored Connecticut College 6-2 over the final 12:10 en route to a 12-10 home-opening victory on Youngman Field at Alumni Stadium on Friday. Middlebury (1-1, 1-1) returns to action on Sunday when they host Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at 3:00 p.m., while the Camels travel to Adelphi on Monday for a 7:00 p.m. faceoff.

After the teams exchanged goals in a slow-paced first quarter, Middlebury took a 3-2 lead on a bouncing shot by Billy Curtis with 11:31 left in the second. Patrick Jamin made it a two-goal edge on a quick-stick score nearly two minutes later. The Camels responded with three-consecutive tallies to end the half, including a man-up score by Gus Mazzocca on a 20-yard shot, for a 5-4 edge after two quarters.

Following halftime, Jack Sheehan tied the contest at 5-5 on a quick stick following a pass from the X by Curtis with 11:53 remaining. Connecticut College took the lead following goals by Aidan McAvoy and Jared Rainville. The Panthers moved to within one (7-6) late in the third when Henry Tarr scored his first collegiate goal. Tarr collected a ground ball near midfield, drove toward the goal and scored on a give-and-go with Gray Thomas.

The Camels regained a two-goal edge when McAvoy scored from 10 yards on a diagonal pass from Patrick Atkins with 12:10 remaining. Middlebury posted four-straight goals over the next 8:20, capped on an 18-yard goal by Sheehan for his third of the game with 3:50 left. Mazzocca brought the visitors to within 10-9 on a bouncing shot from 15 yards with 2:38 showing on the clock. Connecticut College won the ensuing faceoff, but the Panther defense forced a turnover. After a successful clear, Middlebury maintained possession over the next minute, grabbing an 11-9 lead on a goal by Tom Conley from just outside the crease. Connecticut College gained possession after a win at the X, as Rainville scored his fourth of the game with 30 seconds left. Middlebury claimed the faceoff, as Thomas made it a 12-10 score with 11 ticks remaining with Camel goalie Will Rice out of the net as an extra defender. The visitors won the faceoff, but Middlebury hung on for the final 12-10 victory.

Curtis paced the Panther offense with three goals and a season-high four assists, while Sheehan scored three times and Conley had two. Andrew Ng had a career-high five caused turnovers, while William Munroe won 7-of-11 faceoffs and collected six groundballs. Finn O'Connor recorded nine saves in front of the Panther goal to go along with six rollers.

Rainville finished with four goals and two assists for the Camels, while McAvoy tallied three scores and added an assist. Bobby Chang, Reese Hornstein and Rice each had four groundballs, while Rice ended the contest with 15 saves for Connecticut College.