Senior captain Kyle Nilsson played hero for the second-seeded Middlebury men's soccer team, scoring in the 36th minute to give the Panthers a 1-0 victory over eighth-seeded Bowdoin in the semifinals of the NESCAC Tournament. 

HIGHLIGHTS

• The visitors had the first chance to jump on the board 46 ticks into the game. Keito Ishibashi sent in a free kick that bounced off the right foot of Jack Banks, but goalie Joey Waterman smothered the chance.
• Middlebury manufactured its first chance with 7:59 elapsed, but Colin Dugan's curling free kick bent inches right of the post.
• Felipe Duran looked to put the Bowdoin on the scoreboard at the 10:23 mark off a corner that caught the wind, but Waterman stayed course by cupping the ball to his chest to secure the save.
• Dugan tried his luck 27 seconds later off a great feed from Gavin Randolph that just missed left.
• In the 19th minute, Jack Banks almost put the Polar Bears ahead with a header that looked destined for the bottom right corner. Waterman stood his ground by corralling the point-bank chance.
• Middlebury broke the scoreless tie at the 35:29 mark. Keagan Harder shook his defender and sent a ball into the teeth of the goal box. Nilsson drove through the pile and got enough power to guide the ball into the bottom left corner past Bowdoin goalie Alex Ainsworth for a 1-0 edge. 
• The Panthers had a prime opportunity to double the lead with 42:53 elapsed. Dugan worked past three Polar Bears and had a wide-open goal. Paul Surkov recovered in time to thwart the bid by blocking it with his back. 
• Bowdoin had the final chance of the stanza before the first-half horn sounded. Surkov picked up the loose ball from outside the left corner of the box and launched a screamer that Waterman tipped over the bar to keep the one-goal advantage for Middlebury. 
• Drew Phillips had a chance to tie things up with 50:26 elapsed with a shot that Tyler Payne blocked with his right foot.
• Bowdoin had two solid back-to-back chances from Huck and Ishibashi kept the pressure up, but Waterman stuffed them to keep Middlebury ahead.
• Huck had the final opportunity to tie things up with less than two minutes left by dialing up a free kick that sailed toward the bottom right corner. Waterman came up clutch again, stopping the chance to help push the Panthers on to championship Sunday. 

NOTES

• Nilsson tallied his fourth goal of the season and extended his point streak to three consecutive games.
• Harder earned his second helper of the year.
• With eight saves, Waterman now has 10 shutouts this fall.
• The Panthers push their unbeaten streak to 17 consecutive games. Trinity (TX) is the only DIII team with a longer unbeaten streak at 19 consecutive matches. 
• Middlebury and Bowdoin squared off for the ninth time in NESCAC Tournament action, as the Panthers are now 6-0-3 in the series.
• The victory pushes the team into the championship for the 11th time and it will look for its fourth conference championship in program history.

With the victory, Middlebury moves on to the NESCAC Championship game and will take on the winner of three-seeded Williams and sixth-seeded Connecticut College on Sunday at 12:00 p.m.