Fisher delivers the knockout punch to Williams

Author: Andrew Schlegel

After dropping its first game of the season to Amherst 3-1 last weekend, the men's soccer team refused to be handed another loss. The Panthers barged into the week with lots of tenacity and ferocity, resulting in a 2-0 win over Bowdoin on Oct. 9, a 1-0 win over Williams on Oct. 13 and a 5-0 win over Plymouth State on Oct 14.

It is hard to believe that the Panthers allowed three goals against Amherst with co-captain Andrew Germansky '08 anchoring the defense and Middlebury winning most of the 50-50 balls.

Over Fall Family Weekend, Middlebury handed Williams, a perennial soccer powerhouse, a 1-0 loss on the new synthetic field. The match was hard-fought and it looked like both teams were evenly matched.

But when Panther goalkeeper Brian Bush '09 was injured in the third minute, it looked like Williams had gotten the edge needed to take over the match.

Nevertheless, Middlebury tightened up the defense and did not allow many attempts on goal. Jamie Wheeler '10, who took over for Bush, played well, giving the Panthers plenty of time to manufacture a goal.

The Panthers had a number of opportunities created off of the flip-throws of Casey Ftorek '09 that traveled into the penalty box, but it was not until the 83rd minute that the Panthers finally broke through.

With Williams putting pressure on Wheeler with some dangerous crosses, the defense managed to clear the ball to Ftorek, who carried the ball up the left wing. Ftorek realized he could not beat the Williams defender, so he laid the ball off to a trailing Baer Fisher '09, who blasted a shot into the upper right corner.

"Casey shielded a Williams' defender," said Fisher, "and then laid an awesome ball off to me. I tried to hit it far post, and luckily I did. It was a great team goal."

Baer's goal was enough for the Panthers to defeat a strong Williams team that they will surely meet again in the postseason.

The Panthers avenged their loss from last season's NESCAC final.

Four days earlier, the Panthers were not pushed as hard, defeating Bowdoin 2-0.

In the 75th minute, Andrew Banadda '10 passed the ball through the defense so that Ftorek could run onto it, take a couple touches to beat the goalie and knock the ball into the back of the net.

Brandon Jackson '08 added an insurance goal in the 85th minute on a penalty kick, which put the game out of reach for Bowdoin.

After picking up three wins last week, the Panthers will finish up regular season play with three games on the road.