Men's Soccer Pounds Lord Jeffs, 2-0

Author: Josh Axelrod

Controversial refereeing set the tone for the Middlebury men's soccer team as it recorded its third New England Small Colleges Athletic Conference (NESCAC) win by defeating the visiting Amherst Lord Jeff's, 2-0. Tied with Trinity at fourth place in the NESCAC rankings, the Panthers are looking to break into the top three ranks.
The pace of the game was stiff from the start with Middlebury attacking early and often. Just five minutes into the game, the Panther offense lured the Lord Jeffs keeper out and sent a shot over his head, just wide of the net. The referee, however, wanted to slow things down, and out came the penalty cards. Middlebury's defense was penalized with one yellow for an unseen foul, while Amherst screamed bloody murder.
Undaunted by the official's bias toward Amherst, Middlebury struck again, 18 minutes into the first half with another shot just inches wide of the net. Amherst continued to be angered with the Panthers' play and the referee, swearing audibly on the field, and screaming at the referee's behavior that led to its eventual fall.
In the last 10 minutes of the first half, Middlebury sailed a third beautiful shot just wide of the goal, but this time they kept the momentum going. With 1:52 left in the first half, Jake Armstrong '04 passed the ball to Brian Lavin '03 who beat the Lord Jeff's defense and scored the Panther's first goal.With their confidence renewed, the Panthers took to the pitch in a dominating fashion for the entire second half. As Dave Lindholm '05 put it, "It got to the point where I wanted them to shoot the ball at me just so I could touch it." There were few dramatic happenings for the first 20 minutes of play in the second half, until Kyle Dezotell '03 was yellow carded for an Amherst foul. He was apparently running for the ball, and was physically blocked by two defenders from reaching it. Angry and determined not to let the referee ruin its game, Middlebury put together three dangerously close strikes in the four minutes following Dezotell's yellow card. With Amherst continuing to lose steam in the final minutes of the game, Middlebury completed its most impressive play of the game. Matt Haddad '05 played the ball through the defense to a quickly moving Kellan Florio '05 who placed the ball in the back of the net with 15 seconds to play.
Amherst hung its heads in dismay as the ball sailed out of bounds in the final seconds and the game ended. Middlebury looks to improve on its 3-1-1 record in NESCAC play this weekend when it travels to Williams for what will undoubtedly be an intense and emotional game.