HARTFORD, Conn. - The Trinity College Men's Soccer team fell to #3 Middlebury College, 2-0, in a New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) match at the Trinity Soccer Field Saturday afternoon. The Bantams move to 3-6-2 on the season, and 1-5-2 in the NESCAC, while the Panthers remain unbeaten at 9-0-3 overall and 5-0-2 in conference.

Prior to the match, the Trinity Men's Soccer program recognized their seven departing seniors on Senior Day: Bernardo Simoes (Lisbon, Portugal), Dante Merlin (South Windsor, Conn.), Michael Traynor (Rye, N.Y.), Quinn Ackman (Evanston, Ill.), James Donaldson (Montreal, Quebec, Canada), Brenner Morton (Dover, Mass.), Wheat O'Hagan (Richmond, Va.).
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• Middlebury nearly opened the scoring after 11:51 had elapsed in the opening half. Jordan Saint-Louis broke past the defense and was one-on-one with Bantam goalkeeper Bernardo Simoes, but his left-footed shot was parried back into play.
• Trinity looked to tally the first goal of the match at the 25:10 mark. Shane Ivey dribbled through the defense and fired a shot from the right side of the box that was destined for the bottom-left corner, but Panther goalie Ryan Grady sprang to his right to make a spectacular diving save.
• The Panthers broke through with 7:14 remaining in the first half. Following a corner kick, Harper Nicholl pounced on a loose ball in the box and clipped his shot into the net with the outside of his boot for the 1-0 lead.
• Middlebury grabbed a 2-0 lead after just five minutes in the second half. Will Sawin fired a cross across the six-yard box and Gavin Randolph tapped in from close-range to make it 2-0.
• The Panthers nearly bagged a third tally at the 52:11 mark. Kyle Nilsson flicked a pass through to Sawin, but his effort from the top of the box was denied by the legs of Simoes.
• The Bantams looked for an answer with eight minutes to go. Owen McDermott curled a right-footed shot on frame, but Grady read it well and made a save at the right post to claim the 2-0 triumph.

NOTES

• Grady recorded his program-best 36th career clean sheet in the 2-0 win. 
• Middlebury improves to 12-0 in its last 12 matches against Trinity and the Panthers own a 26-5-6 edge in the all-time series. 
• Middlebury is one of nine undefeated teams left in Division III this season.  

The Bantams will return to the pitch when they travel to the University of Hartford for a non-conference match Sunday afternoon. Kickoff is slated for 2:00 p.m.