Middlebury, Vt. - Kirk Horton scored two goals, including the game-winning tally at the 97:33 mark, propelling the Middlebury College Panthers to a key 2-1 NESCAC victory over the visiting Trinity College Bantams in a physical men's soccer match this afternoon. Trinity falls to 5-5-3 overall and 2-5-1 with its first loss in five games, while Middlebury improves to 9-2-1 overall and 5-2-1 in the league.  The match served as a Red Card Cancer match where funds raised would benefit Camp Ta-Kum-Ta and the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center. Middlebury returns to action Tuesday when it hosts Plymouth State at 3 p.m., while Trinity hosts Wesleyan on Wednesday at the same time.

In a windy first half, Trinity grabbed a 1-0 advantage 8:48 into the contest with the breeze at its back. On a free kick from nearly 40 yards out on the right side, sophomore Sam Milbury (Peabody, Mass.) lofted a ball that caught a gust of wind. The knuckling ball went over the outstretched hand of Middlebury goalie Greg Sydor and tucked under the crossbar for Milbury's second of the season.

Middlebury had three good scoring opportunities to tie the match in the ensuing 19 minutes. In the 14th minute, Adam Glaser roped a shot from 18 yards away that hit the crossbar and rebounded harmlessly back into play. At 19:54, a through ball from Greg Conrad to the feet of Tyler Bonini was saved by the right leg of Trinity junior goalie Domenic Quade (Norwood, Mass.), while the Bantam keeper denied Daniel O'Grady's left-footed blast from 15 yards out with a sprawling save at 27:44.  Trinity nearly took a 2-0 lead in the 42nd minute, but a save by Sydor on a low, knuckling shot by junior forward Cody Savonen (Orleans, Mass.) was smothered as the visitors took a 1-0 lead to the halftime break.

The second half saw the wind die down with neither team having an advantage. Middlebury had a goal disallowed in the 60th minute due to a foul in the penalty area. Keeping the pressure up, the Panthers tied the match at 1-1 with Horton's second of the year. Glaser sent a free kick from 45 yards away on the left side into the box that was tapped in Horton on the far post.  The Panthers nearly took the lead for good in the 90th minute. A shot by Conrad found its way over the head of Quade and was saved by a Trinity defender standing on the far post to send the match to overtime.

Horton's game-winning score came at 97:33 on a corner kick. Glaser lofted the ball into the box, finding Horton alone about 14 yards away. He calmly collected the ball, sending a hard shot to the upper-right corner for his third of the year.  Middlebury held advantage in both shots (21-8) and corner kicks (8-2). Sydor made three saves in goal for the Panthers, while Quade recorded six stops for Trinity. A total of 44 fouls were called in the match.