Wesleyan men's soccer fell to 4^th seeded Middlebury Saturday morning in penalty kicks, 0-0 (5-4). The 5^th seeded Cardinals battled for over 110 minutes of game action but were not able to come out on top, stopping their run in the quarterfinals. The game goes down in the records as a tie, moving Wesleyan to 10-3-3 to finish the season. With the win, Middlebury (10-3-3) advances to the semifinals next weekend where they will face 3^rd seeded Tufts.

 
HIGHLIGHTS:

• Middlebury came out of the gate the aggressor, creating four shots and a corner within the first five minutes of play. Two of the shots were on net and turned away by Liam Devanny '23
• The momentum shifted back to the Cardinals following a yellow card on Middlebury's Liam Sloan. Wesleyan had four corner kicks and three shots in the next 17 minutes, with its best chance coming off a Dane Harmaty '24 shot from inside the box that was turned away by Ryan Grady
• The half ended with a long shot taken by the Panthers' Hank Nelson, which was punched over the top of the net by Devanny
• In a game that was back and forth, it was once again Middlebury's turn for scoring opportunities early in the second half. Devanny made two more crucial saves on point blank shots in the 51^st minute, keeping the game scoreless. After a penalty in the box, Brandon Reid stepped up to take the penalty kick in the 56^th minute. Devanny made yet another save, this time diving to his left to turn away Reid
• Wesleyan was able to counter with two more good scoring chances in the second half. The first was in the 64^th minute when Kyle Burbage '25 broke through the defense and found himself right in front of the goal. His point-blank shot was saved nicely by Grady. The second scoring chance came from a one-timer sent off the foot of Harmaty which was collected once again by the Panthers' keeper
• There was a close call in the first 10 minutes of overtime, when Jonah Roberts put one towards the left post. The ball was saved by Devanny but sat near the goal line for a few moments before being cleared away. Wesleyan was able to put together two shots in the second overtime, but neither were on target
•  It then went to penalty kicks where Grady turned away Max Hofstetter '24 on Wesleyan's first attempt, which ended up being the only miss of PK's. Jordan Saint-Louis put through the 5^th and game-winning goal for Middlebury, sneaking it by Devanny to advance to the semifinals

 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

• Liam Devanny made eight saves on a season high 16 shots faced
• Five of their last nine meetings against each other have gone to overtime
• Middlebury outshot Wesleyan 16-12 (8-5 shots on target), while also producing more corners 7-6