The #14/sixth-seeded Middlebury men's soccer team saw its run in the 2025 NESCAC Tournament end in a 3-2 loss to #1/top-seeded Tufts in overtime. With the win, the Jumbos advance to Sunday's conference title tilt.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Just three minutes into the tilt, Hamin Kim delivered a free kick into the penalty box that Pablo Gonzalez headed toward the goal. The Panther's bid flew over the crossbar.
• The visitors pulled ahead with 31:36 expired. Kim stepped to a free kick near midfield and delivered a sharp feed to a dashing Gonzalez, who sent a diving header from the left side of the box into the lower-right corner of the net for a 1-0 edge.
• Tufts nearly answered Middlebury's marker less than a minute later. Mateo Bargagna used his head to center a corner kick. Xavier Canfin followed with a bid that almost clipped the crossbar on the way out of bounds.
• Panther goalie Joey Waterman made a pair of stops to keep the Jumbos off the board at the break. The most dangerous look came in the 44th minute when Henry Perkins flipped a one-on-one chance toward the center of the goal. Waterman smothered the attempt to maintain the one-goal advantage.
• Middlebury added its second score with 4:06 gone in the second half. Harper Nicholl won a race to a loose ball at the logo and darted upfield, sending a crisp through ball to Sawin. The Panther snuck his attempt in to widen the margin to 2-0.
• Ari Klayman got his head to a corner kick in the 55th minute and banged his bid off the crossbar. Gavin Randolph followed with a rebound attempt that Tufts goalie Nikola Antic secured for the save.
• With 33:03 remaining, Bargagna uncorked a look from the left corner of the box. Waterman slid to his right and caught the attempt.
• The Jumbos cut the deficit in the 72nd minute. Ethan Jett kept a free kick in play on the end line before Brown flicked a feed to Perkins, who tapped a dribbler into the left corner to slice the margin to 2-1.
• Jett tied the contest with 11:02 left, weaving through a sea of Panther defenders on the edge of the box and guiding a bending bouncer into the bottom-right corner.
• Middlebury's final chance of regulation came in the 86th minute. Randolph elevated for a header that sailed over the crossbar.
• Colin Dugan found an opportunity just 1:52 into the extra session, guiding a bid to the low-right corner that Antic denied.
• Ben Brown ended the match with 3:18 remaining in the initial added period. Daniel Yanez launched a free kick from beyond the midline that Taylor Feinberg headed back to Brown, who clanged a bid off the right post and in for the 3-2 win.

NOTES

• Sawin scored for the third straight match, extending his point streak to five. The junior has posted 12 points (five goals, two helpers) since October 21.
• The programs squared off in the 42nd matchup. Middlebury owns a narrow 19-15-8 edge in the series.
• The sides have squared off 10 times in the NESCAC Tournament, with each side claiming five victories.

The Panthers await their NCAA Tournament fate when the field is announced on Monday at 11:00 a.m.