Middlebury College

The top-ranked Middlebury men's soccer team tallied two first-half goals and held Trinity to one shot on target to cruise to a 3-0 victory on Saturday from South Street Field. 

HIGHLIGHTS

• The Bantams nearly struck 39 seconds into the contest. Joaquin Manon hustled down the left side and fired a shot toward the right panel. Panther goalie Leon Brody dove and deflected the ball away with his glove.
• Middlebury had a golden opportunity in the 16th minute. Colin Dugan crashed to the left post and tried to sneak the ball past the line. Goalkeeper Jake Davis stood tall and punched the chance wide at the last moment.
• Boden Rupprecht tried his luck from distance with 27:04 elapsed, but his bid caught the wind and sailed high over the crossbar.
• The hosts broke through in the 29th minute. Dylan Payne flicked a through ball to a cutting Charlie Johnson. The forward slithered through three Bantam defenders and deposited his shot into the right panel to take a 1-0 lead.
• Dugan nearly joined the scoresheet six minutes later on a bending free kick that pushed toward the left side of the goal. Davis dove to punch the ball away with both gloves.
• The navy and white doubled its advantage with 4:31 remaining in the first half. Dugan saved the ball from going out of bounds on the endline and flicked a pass into a sea of players. Hugo Horwitz rose over the defenders and found the left panel.
• Trinity tried to cut the deficit in half at the 46:30 mark when Jack Murphy flicked a header over the right corner of the goal.
• With 22:36 left, Cameron Linehan found some space in the Panther defense and tried to fire a shot into the left panel. Dylan Payne slid in at the point of contact and deflected the chance out of the box.
• Middlebury eyed a third tally in transition at the 61:20 mark. Hamin Kim lifted a pass for Will Sawin to run into and possess. The forward took two steps and fired a shot with his right foot that Davis smothered.
• Sawin capped the scoring in the 84th minute. Johnson flicked a ball over two defenders and found a blitzing Sawin. The senior hustled up the field and tucked a roller inside the right post to finalize the 3-0 victory.

NOTES

• Johnson led the charge with a goal and an assist, marking his first game with both.
• Sawin added his team-leading ninth tally of the campaign and his 25th in a Middlebury uniform.
• Brody earned his eighth shutout of the season.
• The Panthers move to 12-0-3 in their last 15 matchups against the Bantams.
• Before the match, the squad honored the senior class of Owen Davis, Dugan, Jay Hoke, Horwitz, Ari Klayman, Harper Nicholl, Sawin and Tiger Xie.

Middlebury hits the road next weekend to battle Bates on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. The match serves as the team's annual Hedley Reynolds Cup.